


The Prince and The Pet

by AromaticAromantic



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: 800 to 1000 words, Abuse, Amputation, Angst, Blood, Body Horror, Cage mention, Electrocution, Force Feeding, Gore, Human Pet, Humiliation, Like, M/M, Maggots, Needles, Poor Deceit, Short Chapters, Starvation, Suicidal Thoughts, Torture, Violence, Whipping, Whump, abusive virgil sanders, based off a prompt, gross food stuff, heavy heavy gore, i swear this eventually has a happy ending, lobotomy mention, selective mutism, seriously, shock collar, surprise villain - Freeform, very short, weight loss and gain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2020-06-26 19:11:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 27,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19774597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AromaticAromantic/pseuds/AromaticAromantic
Summary: (“You said you would let Deceit go!” Roman to Virgil)In which Virgil decides to make sure Deceit stops lying, and Deceit stops altogether.





	1. The Initial Prompt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This fic gets explicitly gory at parts!!

Roman found Deceit in Virgil’s room, clothes dirty with blood and literal dirt, shaking and refusing to look at Roman when he uses his name.

“Don’t call me that,” he mutters, “please, he’s going to get angry.”

“What am I meant to call you if not Deceit? And don’t worry, Virgil won’t do anything to you, I’ll keep you safe.”

Deceit whimpers further, and that was when Virgil came in, when Roman had demanded he let Deceit go.

“You can’t _make_ me let him go,” Virgil points out, “I was told to make him behave, and I did. Isn’t that right, my little pet?”

Roman sees Deceit whimper but reply obediently with _yes, sir_. And it’s sickening.

“Come on, Virgil,” he half begs, “I’ll do anything, just let him go.”

“…You know,” Virgil says slowly, “…I’ve been wanting to tie you to the wall and whip you since day one.”

Deceit yells at Roman not to, but like a fool, Roman agrees, not thinking twice, dutifully counting out the lashes when he’s told, and not complaining once. Even Virgil has to admit he’s “well behaved”.

“Right, now that that’s out of my system…” Virgil turns to Deceit, “we need to work on you a bit more. You can only talk if I tell you to, but today-”

“You said you would let Deceit go!” Roman yells quickly, hoping that Virgil had just forgotten.

“Hm…I did, didn’t I?” Virgil turns and smiles sweetly, “such a shame, Princey. It seems that without Deceit here to point out my lies, you can’t tell, can you?”


	2. Punishments and Rewards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked me to continue the prompt, so I did, bit by bit-  
> In which Roman realises Deceit's a little bit broken.

“ _I just need you to make him listen to us, you know? Maybe make sure he doesn’t…talk so much? Oh you know what I mean.”_

“ _Yes, Patton, I know. Give me a bit of time with him, I’ll…talk him through it.”_

“What punishment should we use?” Virgil asks Deceit, “go on, you can answer me.”

Deceit doesn’t _want_ to answer, especially with Roman looking. He doesn’t want anyone looking at him, especially not with the pity that Roman’s eyes have in them. But he knows better than to keep Virgil waiting. And besides, Virgil was right, he should have known by now not to talk to people, especially if they called him by his name.

“I…can you just whip me, sir?” he asks hesitantly, and he knows Virgil’s going to say no. Physical violence had stopped being used a good couple of weeks ago, after all.

“Nice try, pet. Just stay kneeling down and hold your arms above your head for a few hours, alright? And I’ll forgive you.”

Deceit doesn’t hesitate. He hates the position, hates the fact that Roman can _see_ him like this, and his arms ache still from the last time he was made to do it. But it’s what he was told to do, so he’ll do it.

“There we go…now, since we have Roman here we can see how quiet you can _really_ be.”

Roman snaps at Virgil when the side says it, and Deceit almost winces – would have, if he wouldn’t have broken position by doing so. No, he stays silent, silent and still, watching as Roman struggles against Virgil, hissing and spitting. It’s no use though, because Virgil puts a metallic shock collar on him regardless.

“What the hell? You’re really going to _electrocute_ me?” Roman snaps, and Deceit closes his eyes, trying to focus on the muscle ache instead of them.

“Of course not. You’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Virgil smirks, “it’s activated by my pet making noise, so you’ll be fine so long as he behaves.”

Deceit behaves. Of course he does. He doesn’t move or make a sound throughout his punishment. And Roman has to admit it’s impressive, the way he doesn’t even wince when Virgil takes a cane to the back of his arms. It’s also sick though, and Roman doesn’t want to know how much practice he’s had.

“Alright, pet, you can put your arms down…I think you deserve some food after that….don’t you?”

Deceit hesitates, glancing over at Roman, and Virgil grins widely.

“Finally! Better, better…”

Roman and Deceit both try to ignore the way Virgil talks about how “bad things happen” if Deceit talks, and Roman tries not to show his disgust when Deceit starts eating from a pet bowl. He didn’t want to cause Deceit even _more_ difficulties, after all.

“Want anything, Princey?” Virgil asks, “I’m sure my pet won’t mind if you have some of his food. It’s pretty good quality dog food, or so the can says.”

“That’s disgusting, Virgil. Wait until the others find out what you’re doing.”

Virgil just shrugs before going to make his own food, kicking Deceit as he passes.

Deceit whimpers and Roman screams.

When Roman comes to, Deceit is gently cleaning up the injuries on his torso, bandaging him carefully in a way that suggests being used to the act.

“…Deceit?”

His throat burns, and when he moves his head he can _feel_ the burnt skin sticking to the collar.

Deceit doesn’t even act like he heard, and Roman looks over to see Virgil watching. Was Deceit afraid of what Virgil would do? That would explain it…

Deceit pulls away after finishing the bandaging and Virgil smirks, calling him over and wrapping his arms around him in a way that _almost_ looks loving.

“Well, now you’ve seen Roman shirtless. You should probably thank me for that,” Virgil jokes, and Deceit makes some vague motion with his head, as if unsure of how to respond.

“Really, Virgil? I’d expect that sort of talk from my brother, not you.” Roman rolls his eyes.

“Oh yes…how’s Remus doing, I wonder…”

Roman notices the flash of guilt in Deceit’s eyes, and has to remind himself to shout at Virgil, not Deceit. It doesn’t make a difference, of course, but he still yells, threatening Virgil and trying to remember when he last saw his twin.

“Tell me, is he ok?” he asks Deceit desperately.

“Go on, tell him,” Virgil taunts.

Deceit doesn’t answer, but Roman swears he sees the tiniest of nods.

“Anyways!” Virgil forces Deceit’s head towards him, “does my pet think it’s been good enough to sleep in my bed tonight?”

Deceit hesitates, tenses up, but makes a pleading expression, nodding a little and pointing to the empty food bowl and Roman’s patched up chest.

“Hm…yes, I suppose you have a point…alright, go get comfy. If any part of you touches me though, I’ll cut it off,” he warns, and Roman’s more than a little concerned at how Deceit lowers his head and nods. The side is resigned to his fate but still hurries into the bed, looking content somehow.

“I should probably take that collar off you,” Virgil murmurs, “I can’t really expect my pet to control his sounds in his sleep, can I?”

Roman narrows his eyes, trying not to flinch as layers of skin peel off alongside the collar.

“Wait until we get out of here,” he warns.

“We?” echoes Virgil, “please, Roman. I know _you_ might, but Deceit wouldn’t leave if his life depended on it. Not unless I told him he could. Now…”

The two glance over at Deceit, curled up tightly under a blanket, a pillow between him and where Virgil will presumably sleep. He’s fast asleep, and Roman has never known _any_ dark side to fall asleep that quickly.

“Sleep tight, Princey. If you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, blame anon-


	3. Feeding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit is angry with Roman and Logan makes an entrance.

Roman is awoken by Deceit, once again, with Virgil nowhere in sight.

“Dee-” Roman’s eyes widen, “Dee, are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he? Come on, let me go and we can get out of here-”

“He wants to know if you want breakfast,” Deceit interrupts, voice hoarse and quiet.

“…Huh?” Deceit doesn’t repeat himself, “…he? You mean Virgil?”

Deceit winces just the tiniest amount but nods.

“…Tell Virgil to go fuck himself.”

Deceit sighs and heads back to Virgil in the kitchen, approaching him tentatively.

“Well?” Virgil asks, glad that their rooms included a version of Thomas’ house, because he would have struggled working out where to put the dog food otherwise, “what did he say?”

“…He said no, sir.”

Virgil pauses, and Deceit understands his mistake a moment too late, preparing himself for Virgil to turn and slap him hard across the face.

“Try again, _pet_ ,” he snaps, “or else I’ll make you vomit and you can eat _that_ instead.”

“H-He said to tell you to g-go fuck yourself!” Deceit says quickly, “please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you!”

Virgil pauses, then sighs. “Alright, I forgive you…” he smirks at how Deceit breathes a sigh of relief, “go put that shock collar back on Roman, okay? Then wait in your usual position until I bring food in.”

Deceit nods quickly and hurries away. He didn’t _want_ to be so eager for the small scraps of dog food, but he knew how bad Virgil would let the hunger go, and the humiliation of being made to beg to be allowed to eat again was worse than giving in.

Besides, what if Virgil gave him rotten food again?

He hesitates with the shock collar, but reassures himself that if he behaves then Roman will be fine, and he’s been trying really hard to behave.

_He just wants to see you can be **silent**. Roman isn’t going to be hurt if you can do that._

With that, he feels better putting the collar on, and takes his usual place, kneeling with his hands above his head. He was getting used to the position, so it wasn’t too bad.

He can see the disgust in Roman’s eyes and tries not to think about how similar it is to Remus’.

Virgil enters after a few moments, sitting to eat his own food, talking at Deceit about his tasks for the day. How Patton wanted to go watch a film later, and that he was supposed to make Thomas a little nervous about the doctors appointment so he didn’t forget it entirely, etc.

Deceit keeps watching the second plate of food, trying to ignore his hunger. A tin of the food contained 401 calories, and he was fed a quarter of one twice a day if he behaved. Barely a tenth of what you were meant to eat.

Virgil finishes his own and looks at Deceit, who keeps staring hungrily at the food.

“Ah, you want this…well, sorry, but you lied to me, remember? You lied and Roman swore at me.”

“Yeah, and I’ll do it again, _Anxiety.”_

Virgil tuts as Deceit tries not to whine, desperate to eat.

“Right…pet, you’re going to feed this to Roman,” Virgil smirks at their expressions, “Roman, I suggest you eat up. I don’t know when I’ll next feed you.”

Roman doesn’t miss the anger and betrayal in Deceit’s face as the side slowly walks over and starts to spoon bits in.

Deceit _resents_ Roman eating his food. He’d taken _days_ to earn even scraps of food when he arrived. Why was Roman now allowed to eat? Not only that, but eat _his_ food. He forces Roman to swallow it all, not wanting Roman to spit it out. If he was going to eat _his_ food, then he was going to _eat_.

Virgil just grins as he watches, congratulating Deceit when Roman finishes it all. He doesn’t miss the way Deceit returns to his spot stiffly, anger and bitterness and hunger on his face.

“Don’t worry, pet,” Virgil says sweetly, “stay silent for the rest of today and you can eat later, alright?”

Deceit nods slightly.

“He’s not your pet,” Roman manages to cough out, “ugh…Deceit, how can you let him feed you that shit?”

“He’s not going to answer you. He isn’t Deceit anymore, he’s just a pet.”

Virgil looks at the time.

“I have to go. Pet, if you clean up for me I’ll give you a wash later, alright? And a change of clothes.”

It’s depressing how much Deceit’s eyes light up.

Roman tries to talk to him, but he doesn’t respond. So instead he tries to remember when the last time he’d seen Deceit had been. A few months ago, he thinks. Maybe it made sense that the side was as…out of it…as he was. He sighs, and pauses as the door opens, looking over, expecting Virgil.

Deceit clearly does as well, looking over almost hopefully.

(Was he always as thin as he was now?)

“Roman?”

It’s not Virgil.

“Logan! Oh god Logan it’s so good to see you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logan to the rescue-  
> (I love the logical boy. This was almost Loginceit/Roloceit)


	4. Logan's Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan helps!

Deceit watches fearfully as Logan unties Roman from the wall. First Roman, now Logan? They weren’t _meant_ to be in the room. Virgil’s instructions had been _very_ clear. And now he was going to be punished all over again.

He backs away against the wall, watching as Logan helps Roman up carefully. He hadn’t been prepared for Roman’s intrusion, nevermind Logan’s. Virgil was going to be furious, but what was he supposed to do?

“Are you going to be okay?” Logan asks, staring in horror at Roman’s injured neck, the collar clasped tight and locked, no way to get it off, “shit, what happened?”

“Virgil’s a bitch, that’s what,” Roman mutters, “I’ll be fine. I mean, nightmares for months, but I’ll be fine. It’s Deceit I’m worried about.”

Logan blinks and turns to see the side pressed up against the wall, eyes wide in fear, clothes ripped, blood and stains he didn’t want to consider on them.

“...So this is where he’s been?” Logan asks, trying to be quiet as to not disturb the side further, “...Roman, we need to get him out...”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’ve been a little-”

“Don’t.”

“-tied up!”

“I hate you.”

Deceit tries hard to think. He can’t leave. But Logan and Roman could easily just drag him out if needed. Virgil could do that on his own, after all. But if he leaves Virgil’s going to make him break his ankle again and he doesn’t _want_ that.

Especially since he was _so_ close to being allowed a change of clothes…

“Deceit, we need to go.”

It was starting to get annoying that they kept calling him Deceit. That wasn’t his name!

...Did he have a name?

No, Virgil told him not to think about it. He was just a pet. Pets didn’t need names.

“Deceit...”

Deceit gasps as he suddenly realises how close Roman is. And then stares in horror as Roman screams, electricity running through his veins before he collapses unconscious on the ground.

Logan rubs his head. This could be difficult. Roman was unconscious, and somehow Deceit seemed to have caused it. He wasn’t going to get anywhere if Deceit kept doing that…

He hesitates. He _wants_ to bring them both out, but he’d be lucky to get Roman out in one piece if Deceit could cause that sort of reaction at will…

He briefly wonders if Deceit would willingly do it, but decides to give him the benefit of the doubt. However disturbed he seemed to be, the side wasn’t heartless.

“...Deceit, I need you to...well...”

He realises that Deceit isn’t listening. Not the first time, but...something felt very odd. It was like he couldn’t hear him rather than he wasn’t listening.

“...Hey.” Logan walks over quickly, “if Virgil asks, let him know I’ve taken Roman for treatment, alright?”

Deceit looks at Logan, and blinks slowly. His expression is too blank for Logan’s liking, and he’d rather just grab Deceit and pull him out…but if Deceit was anything at all like his old self, he’d resist. And if he wasn’t, he’d probably resist for a whole other reason.

So instead Logan manages to lift Roman, cursing as he just barely gets the side out. It would have been _easier_ if Virgil’s room wasn’t stopping their powers, but it was, so he just had to deal with it.

“Remus!” Logan yells, “Remus, I need some help!”

Oh he hated asking anyone for help, but he couldn’t get Roman healed on his own. Besides, Roman would want to be in a creative room, not... _his_ room.

The other creative side pops up, and half lunges for Roman, inspecting the collar around his neck.

“Virgil?” he asks, quiet, and Logan nods.

“Yes...we can discuss this more once away from here, I need to do something about these injuries.”

And Remus, to his credit, nods and doesn’t make any comment as he sinks them out from the hallway and into his own room.

Sure, he hit his brother over the head with a morning-star on a regular basis, but nobody else got to hurt him, _especially_ third rate ex-dark sides.

Inside Virgil’s room, Deceit goes back to cleaning up, shaking and trying to work out what to tell him when he arrived. Would he be allowed? He was meant to be silent. Silent and he got to eat! And he was so hungry…

He gets the room as clean as he can, and waits kneeling, arms stretched above his head. Maybe if he appealed to Virgil via obedience, Virgil would still let him eat?

_And clean clothes...ahh…_

He looks over when Virgil arrives, the side shutting the door and immediately spotting that Roman isn’t there. He turns to Deceit slowly, and Deceit tries not to cower.

“...I know _you_ didn’t do this,” Virgil mutters, walking over, “who was it?”

Deceit hesitates.

“...Tell me who it was. I’ll still let you eat tonight, alright?”

“Logan, sir.”

Virgil swears, kicking Deceit hard, enough that the side almost whimpers.

“Of course...nerd always sticks his nose in where it isn’t needed...” Virgil sighs, “...well, you did well today. Do you want to be cleaned before or after you eat, pet?”

Deceit could have hugged Virgil for the choice. Times like this just made him happy, seeing that Virgil really did care about him. Why else would he be given the choice, after all?

“B-Before, please, sir.”

“Alright. I’ll start running a bath for you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Logan saved one of them-


	5. Do Thumbs Count As Fingers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit gets rescued, and Virgil is oddly unbothered.

“So Virgil got him to electrocute you?” Logan asks as Remus manages to remove the collar.

“No, I...” Roman winces, “I mean, yes, but not purposefully. The damn thing is set to go of if Deceit says anything.”

“Mm...he used it on me as well,” Remus says quietly, “I mean, I wasn’t bothered, it was kinda hot. But Deceit went real quiet real quick...”

“You didn’t tell me!!”

Remus looks away, muttering that he wasn’t allowed.

“What do you mean?” Logan asks, and Remus hesitates.

“He said if I told people he’d cut off more fingers,” he explains, “I...didn’t want that to happen to him...”

“How are your fingers doing?”

Deceit reluctantly extends all six arms from his body, holding out the one in question to Virgil, who hums and inspects the hand.

“Swelling is going down...can you wiggle the two remaining?”

Deceit tries not to retch as he slowly moves the fingers remaining on that hand, before Virgil lets him with draw the unnecessary arms. At least with just his normal two he could pretend to have all his fingers.

He sighs softly as Virgil gently sponges off the blood from his ribs.

“See? You can be a good pet when you want to be...you tidy up, you stay quiet, you do as you’re told...and that way you get nice things like this.”

Deceit nods, lets Virgil dry him off and gets changed into Virgil’s old clothes. At least two sizes too big and not his preferred style, but he knew to feel lucky for what he got. And he tries not to smile widely when Virgil gives him half a tin instead of the usual quarter.

“Eat up, pet...”

Deceit obeys.

“My suggestion is that we just go in,” Logan says finally, “Remus and I and Patton, that is. You need to rest.”

“I can help!” Roman protests, but Remus flicks his forehead.

“No, you can stay there and behave,” Remus tells him, “a prince is more of a figurehead than a soldier after all~”

“You take that back!”

Logan rolls his eyes and calls for Patton.

“Would you like to go to sleep now?”

Deceit yawns, and shrugs, pressing up against Virgil’s side gently. He’d been hoping to be allowed a hug or something. If you didn’t count the torture (which he didn’t) he hadn’t been touched in about four months. But he’d been good, so…

Virgil pushes him away. “Sleep now in the bed or sleep later chained up,” he snaps, and Deceit shuffles back quickly, nodding and going to crawl into the bed.

And then in walks Logan, and Virgil goes to speak, but Patton and Remus follow in quickly, and he seems to think better of it, looking around the room. Deceit did a good job making it look like torture hadn’t happened…

“Virgil, is it true?” Patton asks, eyes wide, “I heard-Deceit!!”

Virgil raises an eyebrow, watching Patton run over to the side, who frankly looks terrified at the intrusion, shuffling away from Patton quickly.

“Nice to see you all,” Virgil deadpans, “but, uh, could you try knocking next time?”

“Virgil, your secret is out!” Remus yells, “we all know what you’ve been doing to Deceit! And my _brother!”_

“Enlighten me.”

“You-”

Logan shushes Remus quickly, reminding him that they couldn’t get distracted, and Virgil lies back, watching the chaos.

“Deceit, please-”

_Deceit...he wants to talk to me._

_No! No, don’t listen. You’re not Deceit anymore!_

Patton sobs and Deceit almost feels bad, but maybe if he stayed silent Virgil would do something? He glances over at Virgil, who looks back and winks.

“Patton, stop, you’re upsetting Deceit. We need to deal with Virgil.”

Deceit’s eyes widen, the side confused. Had he done something wrong? Were they going to hurt Virgil? He feels like he should protest or something.

“Deal with me? Gee, nerd, what can you three do anyways? Tell Thomas on me?” Virgil laughs.

_Thomas…_

“We’re going to have to.”

“Oh Lo, Thomas is going to be so sad...”

“Virgil, I’m going to rip your teeth out for this-”

_Why am I the only one who gets punished for lying?_

“Any of you so much as _touch_ me, I’ll duck out again,” Virgil says quickly, “you need me to do my job. Don’t push me, I have no issues with dropping out and letting you lot handle Thomas alone.”

There’s silence. With Virgil out of action and Deceit...well, very much out of action, Thomas would be left without any self preservation at all.

“...Threats are meant to be my thing,” Remus mutters.

“I can’t believe you’d let Thomas be hurt,” Patton whispers, and Virgil shrugs.

“...Fine,” Logan breathes deeply, “...here’s how it’s going to work instead. House arrest. You’re not allowed to leave your room. We’ll think of what to do next...later.”

Virgil smirks. “Oh dear, I have to stay in my room? My preferred activity? Horror.”

Logan and the others look over at Deceit, who needed to be taken out. Sure, the room looked...torture free right now, but he couldn’t be allowed to stay with Virgil any longer.

“Deceit could stay with me?” Patton offers, “I don’t know much on how to help...but I can give him a warm bed and food...”

Virgil laughs at the thought of Patton trying to give Deceit normal food, nevermind convincing him to sleep. Logan looks at Virgil coldly for a moment, then sighs.

“We’ll do that...Remus, can you help me get Deceit out of here?”

“Uh...I can try?”

“Brilliant. Patton...I don’t think Virgil’s going to try leave, but keep an eye on him for us.”

“Ok...”

Virgil chuckles, stretching out. Sure, his pet was being taken from him, but he was sure he’d see him again soon. And in the meantime, he got to watch Logan and Remus try to get Deceit to leave.

Maybe being caught wasn’t too bad after all.

Even if it hadn’t been the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: note to self, check notes before you post-  
> XD


	6. Essentials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sides try to help Deceit's first night away from Virgil be stress free. They kinda fail.

Getting Deceit to leave Virgil’s room hadn’t been easy. The side started struggling and crying, looking to Virgil desperately, crying harder when Virgil didn’t do anything to help.

And now in Patton’s room he’d huddled into the corner looking confused and dazed and...broken.

“He needs to eat, right?” Patton asks, looking at the others, “would soup work?”

Roman was leant against Remus, breathing shallowly and with bandages around his neck, but otherwise managing to let his body handle the injuries. The mind might need a bit more work, but he was alright.

Logan was still trying to work out why Deceit wasn’t responding to them.

“Try soup, yes...hm...I wonder why he doesn’t acknowledge us when we speak to him...”

“Maybe he had a brain circumcision,” suggests Remus as Patton quickly goes over to the kitchen area to start cooking.

“...You mean a lobotomy?”

“Brain circumcision.”

“...Right, well, I don’t think so. A lobotomised patient behaves different.”

“...Virgil never used his name whilst I was there,” Roman says suddenly, “is it possible he just...stopped responding to people? I mean, Virgil called him...pet...”

Deceit looks over.

It took Logan a while to calm everyone down, trying to remind them that it didn’t matter right now. If Deceit was going to respond to “pet” instead of his name, then so be it. They could deal with that another time.

“What, like we can deal with Virgil another time?” Remus snaps, “look, nerd, I don’t know if you’ve thought much about this, but Deceit is...as broken as a china doll thrown from a train!”

“I beg to differ.”

“And we need to fix him!”

Logan sighs. “Yes, I know. But we need to start with the basics. Food. Water. Sleep. Even we sides need the essentials to keep our functions going.”

“... _Fine_.”

Deceit wouldn’t eat the soup. They couldn’t even call it a refusal, he just didn’t acknowledge it, staring at Patton’s fridge whilst the side tried to coax him into eating it.

“Come on, we’ll eat it too,” Patton pleads, and Roman has no problems with that, adoring the (not cream based) soup whilst Remus tries to eat Roman’s half. And Logan’s. And Patton’s.

“If Deceit’s not going to eat that, can I have it?”

“Remus!”

“What? You were all thinking it!”

“He needs to eat,” Logan says calmly, “considering how little he’s eaten, it’d be reckless of us to not try to feed him.”

But no matter what they put in front of Deceit, he just watches the fridge, looking less and less hopeful the more they try.

“Maybe he ate before we entered?” Patton asks, “maybe...maybe he’s not hungry?”

“Are you hungry?” Roman asks Deceit, who doesn’t respond, “...h-hey...uh...pet…?”

Deceit turns to look at Roman, who almost immediately loses his appetite.

“I, uh...are you hungry?”

Deceit hesitates, then nods, ever so slightly.

“...Okay...um...guys, what now?”

Remus shrugs, lets go of Roman gently and crouches in front of Deceit.

“Food. What do you want?”

No response.

“Hey! Answer me!”

No response.

“I’m going to kill Virgil...”

Deceit lets out some sort of high pitched whine, frantic and panicked and smacking his fists down onto his knees. And Remus _almost_ cracks. _Almost._

“Dee, I don’t understand!!”

Deceit lets out another whine, stiffens suddenly, and then in one smooth motion sighs and gets into a kneeling position, arms stretched above his head.

“...Leave him be for now,” Logan murmurs, “in the morning we’ll talk to Virgil...see what happened.”

“I’ll kill him-”

“ _In the mean time_ , I suggest we all sleep...Patton, where do you want Deceit sleeping?”

Patton can’t help but feel sad later that night, watching Deceit look so grateful to be told to sleep in the bed. He also can’t help but feel his heart break at how Deceit is so careful not to take up room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dare you to try hold Deceit's position - kneeling down normally, but with your arms stretched straight above your head. And remember that this is a position we've seen him be able to hold for hours.  
> Also I can't wait to post the next chapter!!


	7. Talk To Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the sides realise they need to talk to Virgil, and at least one of my readers screams at me-

“Come on, eat already...” Patton groans, deciding to give up temporarily. Deceit was _clearly_ hungry, and kept staring at the fridge, but nothing Patton offered would he eat.

So instead Patton makes himself food, figuring that eventually Deceit would eat one of the several options out in front of him. There was no need for Deceit to glare at him like that – he had options of cereal and toast and yoghurt and pancakes...all delicious things!

As he’s washing up the others enter, looking just as tired as he feels.

“Sleep ok last night?” Roman asks, yawning, “I know Remus couldn’t sleep.”

Patton shrugs. “I slept fine, and Deceit slept decently, but he wouldn’t eat breakfast...I don’t know what to do...”

Logan nods slightly, looking over at Deceit, who kept twitching, staring at the food options as if surrounded by hungry wolves. Clearly he wasn’t keen on eating…

“Roman, Remus, did you see him eat whilst Virgil kept you two temporarily?” he asks finally, and both twins shudder.

“Yeah, Virgil force fed him maggots,” Remus mutters, “like, I’ve mentioned the thought a lot, but actually _seeing_ your friend eat maggots? It’s gross...and not in any of the ways I like.”

“Yeah, uh, he ate dog food though,” Roman admits, “...do you think he’s been conditioned to not eat...normal things?”

There’s silence for a moment.

“I’m not feeding him dog food!” Patton breaks it by yelling.

(Deceit suddenly looks so much more hopeless.)

The four had been arguing for a while now. Deceit thinks it’s about whether he should be fed, and he can’t help but wish he were with Virgil. Virgil either did or didn’t.

Or, at least, once he learned to behave. And he _wanted_ to behave. He had tried hard to ignore the effects of hunger, at the start, but by the time he was hungry enough to beg for food, he was hungry enough to eat anything.

(The dog food tasted rather nice in comparison to what Virgil had fed him then.)

But now they were just going to stand and debate.

Not that he could complain – they’d let him sleep in Patton’s bed, which was nice. Maybe he’d be allowed a toilet break if he did what they said? He hadn’t been allowed to use the toilet in about a week, and he didn’t want his clothes to get dirtied already.

No, not his clothes, _Virgil’s_ clothes. Virgil would be furious if these were made a mess.

He feels his bladder ache and smacks his fists against his legs quickly, trying to make noise so one of them will notice. But they don’t.

_Of course they don’t. When you were told to be silent that meant **all** noise._

Deceit wants to scream, wants to yell and cry out, but he doesn’t.

Of course he doesn’t.

The sides decide they need to talk to Virgil.

It’d been four hours, and every minute had been a struggle.

First, Deceit wouldn’t eat. They’d finally managed to give him some dog food that Patton had stuffed in the back of his fridge, and Deceit had eaten it eagerly. That was...something.

Then he had thrown up, and Remus had admitted he didn’t think about portions. Logan had to explain that if someone was used to quarter of a tin at a time then a whole tin at once was going to mess with them.

Deceit had cried until Patton had accidentally yelled at him to stop, at which point Deceit had continued crying, but silently. And that was a whole new level of disturbing.

And then he had wet himself, and refused to get changed.

So Logan had suggested they just ask Virgil how to get Deceit to function, and _then_ work on de-conditioning him.

“We can’t do anything for him whilst he won’t even eat,” he points out, “Virgil will know what makes him work.”

And then they’d had to discuss who would talk to him.

Roman had volunteered, as had Remus, and both had been scrapped.

“Remus, you’ll just kill him. Roman, you’re still injured.”

Patton had suggested two of them going in, but Logan had pointed out that Virgil might just use that to mock or distract them.

In the end, it’s agreed that Logan will go.

And Logan does, leaving the other three to try calm each other down (and Deceit, but he wasn’t holding his breath on that one.)

The thing was, Deceit wasn’t the _strongest_ side, but he was a key part of keeping the balance. So him being out of action could shift the whole mindscape, potentially. Anyone wanting to gain more of a foothold would benefit greatly from Deceit not being there.

(Or, any of the sides not being there...Deceit just happened to be the one who could put a stop to things the quickest.)

So really, it made sense for everyone to be concerned – not just for Deceit, but for what it would mean if a side decided they wanted to take the power that Deceit once had.

He pushes these thoughts aside as he approaches Virgil’s room, because there was a more important matter to deal with first.

Logan walks in and shuts the door, locking it as Virgil jumps and looks over, frowning.

“Oh it’s you,” mutters Virgil, “...just you?”

“Yes,” Logan says, turning to Virgil, “and I’m starting to think it should have been from the start. You’ve had four months, and he’s _still_ not what I asked for. Do I have to do _everything_ myself?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told ya Virgil's House Arrest would be irrelevant-


	8. Power Couple And Their Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan talks to Virgil and Deceit knows shit is about to go down.

“Hey, he’s quiet and he does what he’s told,” Virgil protests, shuffling aside on the sofa for Logan to join him, “I consider that a win.”

“I wanted him _silent_. And yes, he’s quite obedient, but he could be better,” Logan huffs and collapses next to Virgil, “you rushed things.”

“You said I could keep him,” Virgil points out, snuggling up to Logan and resting his head on his shoulder, “c’mon Lo, I did good, admit it.”

Logan rolls his eyes, then smiles slightly and kisses Virgil’s forehead.

“You did alright. Next time, make him obedient and silent before making him a pet, okay?”

“Okay!”

Virgil hums, letting Logan stroke his hair gently.

“Have the others worked it out yet?”

“Of course they haven’t.”

_Logan was certain Thomas’ unhappiness was to do with Patton’s control. Thomas spent so long worrying about right and wrong and emotions that it was hard to actually get anything done._

_If Logan could just make Patton shut up and listen to him for a change, then he could improve Thomas’ life so much!_

_He sighs, turning round the corner then pausing, hearing Patton and Virgil talking._

“ _-make sure he doesn’t...talk so much? Oh you know what I mean.”_

“ _Yes, Patton, I know. Give me a bit of time with him, I’ll...talk him through it.”_

_So of course Logan asked Virgil about it, the side shrugging and saying Patton was fed up of Deceit trying to get Thomas to lie, fed up of Deceit altering the balance._

_And Logan had an idea._

“So, clarify. How do I make him use the damn toilet?”

“Oh, sorry Lo, I hadn’t gotten round to training him on that,” Virgil admits, “I was going to get a litter box...but he’s a _dog_ , not a cat...don’t dogs just go outside?”

“Litter box, got it,” Logan shakes his head. He was willing to entertain Virgil’s ideas, especially since the ex Dark Side had a lot of _good_ ones, but he wasn’t prepared to deal with Deceit if he couldn’t be expected to go to the toilet on his own.

“Also, I found out that dry dog food makes him sick,” Virgil adds, “so we’ll have to stock up on the wet stuff. Oh, and hey, can we get him a cage as well as a dog bed?”

Logan resists the urge to roll his eyes.

“Virgil. Focus. There are more important things to do before all that.”

“But Lo, you _said_ I could keep him.”

“Once we make sure we’re in charge,” Logan reminds him, gentle but firm.

“How long will that be?” Virgil asks a lot more seriously.

Logan thinks, trying to work out the time logistics.

“...Once I know I can make Deceit shut Patton up. Then we can make some changes.”

Virgil hums, yawning and sliding onto Logan’s lap.

“Can I keep Patton too?”

“Virgil, we both know you can only look after one pet at a time. Don’t you remember what happened with the others?”

“Ugh, _fine_.”

Deceit is the first to notice Logan appear. Roman and Remus had been getting worked up from Patton’s room, so were making an attempt to calm down by drawing together, showing Deceit every now and again, whilst Patton had been trying and failing to disguise normal food as dog food.

“Logan!” Patton runs over and hugs the side tightly, “are you okay? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine,” Logan assures him, smiling, “I think I can keep him going for a bit whilst we try to undo the damage.”

_Sure. I lie and I get punished. You lie, and everybody swoons._

“Oh thank god...” Roman sighs with relief, looking up, “Remus and I were considering moving him to our room, by the way...Patton’s room is great, but we were worried about the effects of it on Dee...”

_Don’t call me that._

_It’d be nice to share with them for a bit. Maybe if I showed them I was sorry they’d let me have some of the nicer dog food…_

Deceit winces at the fact that he now has opinions on dog food. The more time he spent out of Virgil’s room the more he finds himself noticing how far gone he was. Or, is.

“Actually, I think it’d be better if he were in my room,” Logan _lies_ , “my room won’t play on his emotions, you know?”

Deceit wants to call him out on the lies, and four months ago he would have.

“Oh...well, I suppose so,” Roman mumbles, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, “that makes sense...”

“Shame, my brother can never get Deceit in our room,” Remus says slyly, earning a playful whack, “hey, it’s true!”

“Shut _up_.”

Deceit can’t help but feel something’s about to go very badly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say "shit about to go down". It's...almost anticlimatic. Logan has no need to be extra with overthrowing Patton.


	9. Obey, Be Silent, Be Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan makes things simple.

Deceit throws himself at the wall in an attempt to make the others understand what he’s saying, but it doesn’t work. They just assume it’s because he’s upset, and not because he’s trying to _explain_ and he can’t _talk_. He makes a vague frustrated noise, and then gives up, letting Logan take him into his room.

And Logan’s demeanour changes.

“You know, you should feel thankful for Virgil,” he says calmly, locking his door, “if he wasn’t so keen on having a...relatively intact pet...I’d be about ready to make you _really_ hurt.”

Deceit scrambles back against the wall, trying to look small.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you...” Logan smiles, “come sit on the bed for a moment.”

Deceit is hesitant, but he does so, not wanting to risk making the side angry, just in case. Logan sits beside him, inspecting his hair.

“Good thing you don’t have fleas...” Logan smirks at Deceit’s flush of embarrassment, “now. Here’s how it works. Patton’s days of being in charge are over. _I’m_ the one who’s going to be running this mindscape, with Virgil, of course. And you’re going to help me.”

Deceit shakes his head, and Logan raises an eyebrow.

“If I were you, I would,” he warns, lifting Deceit’s head to look him in the eyes, “because if you’re not _silent_ and _obedient_ and a _good pet_ then I’m going to start making the others suffer.”

Deceit starts to tremble, suddenly a lot more fearful of Logan than Virgil. Because he didn’t _want_ the others to be hurt.

“From now on, every time you make a sound – _any_ sound – I’m going to remove a digit from one of the others,” Logan explains, as if talking to a child, “you understand? You huff loudly, Patton’s thumb comes off. You whine, Roman loses his little finger. You dare _speak_ and I might just remove Remus’ whole hand.”

Deceit tries to control his breathing, remembering the pain of his own finger losses, determined that he wasn’t going to make the others suffer it as well.

“Good...now, obedience. You’ll do whatever Virgil and I say. I don’t care how you feel about it. If Virgil tells you to, oh, I don’t know, to drink acid, you’ll do it. And in return, nobody gets hurt. Roman and Remus can keep making their work, Patton can keep fretting – quietly – over rights and wrongs, and you can get a nice comfy dog bed. Got it?”

Deceit hesitates. He didn’t really believe that Logan and Virgil wouldn’t hurt them, but equally, he couldn’t sense any lies.

He nods slowly.

“ _Excellent.”_

Deceit decided that it wasn’t so bad being with Logan. Logan had just told him to sit still in the corner in his usual position, and had more or less just continued as normal. It made a change.

After a while Logan walks over to him with a measuring tape, wrapping it tight around his neck for a moment before pulling away and humming.

“I think before Virgil next sees you I might make sure you’re to his liking,” Logan explains, seeing confusion in Deceit’s face, “I’m thinking a collar and ears for definite...I know Virgil would argue that dogs don’t wear clothes, but I refuse to look at your body any more than I have to, it’s disgusting...”

Deceit cringes, looking away and wondering if he’d be allowed to lower his arms at any point, mostly to avoid considering what it would be like once Virgil didn’t have to hide him being a pet. He was sure it would just be more humiliating than usual.

Logan seems to have finished with his work, because he sits and talks about what Virgil might like until Deceit decides to just stop listening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Deceit-


	10. I Love Analogical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan and Virgil decide they want to be in charge, and Deceit doesn't have a choice in the matter.

Deceit is surprised to be called up by Thomas the next day, and _almost_ whines when upon rising up Roman hugs him tightly. Almost.

“Ah Dee! It’s good to see you! Sleep well?” Roman asks, smiling widely, “Remus actually slept last night, we were just really happy to know you were in Logan’s room, you know?”

Deceit almost cries, but he’s pretty sure he’d make noise if he did that, so instead he reluctantly offers a smile, not objecting the use of his name, especially since he was being given such a warm hug.

He glances at Remus, hopeful that the other brother would give him a hug as well. But Remus just looks uncomfortable, and that’s when Deceit sees that Virgil is there as well, stood next to Remus with a smirk.

Thomas clears his throat.

“I, uh...I wanted to know what was going on,” their host explains, “Dee – I’ve been finding it hard to lie, recently. Um...and yesterday I _told_ my dentist that I didn’t floss! I mean, sure, most of us only brush, but I had to listen to the floss lecture! I know I don’t like to lie, but...come on...”

Deceit looks over at Logan, then to Virgil, before looking back at Thomas and shrugging.

“Want to explain the issue, _Anxiety?”_ Roman asks, a bit hurt when Deceit shrugs him away suddenly.

“Roman? What’s with the tone?” Thomas asks, almost nervously, “...guys, what’s been going on?”

“Go on, dearest Virgil,” Remus sneers, “tell him what you did.”

Patton starts crying, and Deceit can’t help but feel bad for what he’s sure is going to come.

“Virgil-”

“That’s enough.”

Everyone turns to Logan when he interrupts Thomas, smiling coldly.

“You don’t need to worry, Thomas,” he says simply, “Virgil just made sure Deceit here wouldn’t make you lie. Because you and Patton were both so _worried_ about that.”

Patton whimpers audibly, immediately objecting, whilst Thomas stutters, tying to answer.

“I didn’t- I know I have to- Logan, what are you-”

“It’s fine, Thomas. You see, I understand now,” Logan’s expression softens, “Patton leading the mindscape is only bringing you to ruin. Deceit and Remus can’t be controlled by _Morality_. And your life is a mess because your emotions are running it.”

“Logan-”

It’s Roman who cuts Thomas off, yelling at Logan, not quite sure what’s going on, but knowing it’s nothing good, whilst Remus goes to snap something.

“Hey, _Pet,_ ” Logan smirks, “make them shut up, would you?”

Deceit blinks slowly, then waves his hand weakly, forcing the creative brothers to slam their hands over their mouths, both suddenly distracted in trying to be silent.

Thomas stares, confused and defeated, whilst Patton starts protesting.

“Logan! You can’t- What you’re doing is _wrong!”_

“Him too, Pet.”

Patton cries as he’s forced into silence, and Virgil hums, suddenly a lot more excited, whilst Thomas tries to protest but finds he can’t. As if the only sides suddenly contributing to his actions are Logan and Virgil.

Virgil grins, shuffling over and wrapping his arms around Logan.

“Finally! I knew you wouldn’t leave me all alone on House Arrest for long.”

Logan chuckles and kisses his cheek gently before checking on Deceit, whose body has stilled with the effort of keeping the other three still and silent.

Roman, Remus and Patton are clearly fighting the hold, but it’s no use.

Not any more.

“ _Let me explain. Virgil and I are the ones who decide what Thomas does – sorry, Thomas, talking about you in front of you, but you understand, right? You three are free to do as you please, just understand that if you go too far against what we say, we’ll make you stop. Either have a lowered input, or Deceit here will stop you from having **any** input.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where things get interesting.....


	11. Helpless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the sides feel hopeless, but Deceit's thoughts feel less jumbled.

Remus and Roman had been temporarily banished to their room. They had heard someone lock their room from the outside, and couldn’t manage to _unlock_ it.

“The fuck...let us out you snivelling little bastards!!” Remus yells, hammering on the door, “I swear, I’m going to kill you both!!”

Roman curls up. This was _his_ fault. He’d trusted Logan. He’d let Deceit go with Logan. And now what was going on? They got sent for a time out like children?

“ _Behave and you can come out tomorrow. But you’ll regret it if you don’t behave.”_

Roman hated it but he believed them. Deceit was the proudest and most confident person he knew, and if they could break him then they could break anyone.

“I’m going to kill them,” he hears his brother snarl.

But Roman wasn’t so sure.

“We’d just end up like Dee,” he mutters, “or worse, they’d hurt Deceit for our actions.”

“That doesn’t-We can’t just give up!” Remus protests.

Roman hesitates.

Patton tries to comfort Thomas in the real world, having been told in explicit terms what would happen if he tried to regain any control.

It felt pathetic, how quickly Logan had turned it all around. He had Deceit to prove a point – that he _could_ break them if needed. He had Deceit to force silence if needed. He had Virgil, who...wasn’t so sweet and misunderstood as Patton thought.

The twins were stuck in their room. Patton could try regain control, but definitely not on his own.

“I gotta go, Logan’s probably set up my surprise by now,” Virgil says loudly, reminding Patton of his presence, “I’ll see you...tomorrow? We’ll have to run by tasks after all...but I don’t feel like doing work today or tonight so...bye bye, Padre.”

Patton can’t help but feel anger at the nickname, and can’t help but notice Thomas’ helpless expression.

“...Patton, what happens with them in charge?” he asks quietly.

“...I don’t know,” Patton admits, “...whatever they want, I suppose...”

Thomas nods slightly, then frowns.

“Suddenly...I feel the urge to go do some work...”

Deceit is just tired. To Logan’s credit, nothing _bad_ has happened yet, but he resents the collar, ears and being made to wear something as simple as a t shirt and shorts. _Especially_ when a tail got stuck to the shorts.

Being in Logan’s room was making him think more than he had in Virgil’s room,  it seemed, because  his mind felt clearer than it had in a while.

_ M aybe they’ll let me roam around a bit more...I could try comfort the others, they’re probably feeling it right now… _

“ Aww Logan he’s so cute!”

He glances up at  Virgil, who looks far too happy.

“Just promise to take care of him,” Logan mutters, “ and that means taking him for walks or whatever.”

“Of course, Lo! Though I wish I could have one of the others as well...”

“You can’t turn them all into pets, Virgil. We’re not running a zoo.”

V irgil pouts, but smiles and turns to Deceit, who fights the urge to move away.

“You’re free to go wherever, by the way,” Virgil tells him, “ though if you wander too far I’ll have to cage you at night...”

D eceit eyes the cage in the corner of the room and nods in understanding.

“ He’s not allowed in our bed though,” Logan says quickly, “the bed is for us, not the dog.”

Virgil smirks, eyes glinting as he  inspects Deceit’s collar. “ You should remind me of that later,” he says,  winking, “ we can kick him out for a bit and-”

“ Shush...” Logan leans in and kisses Virgil gently, “ take the dog for a walk and  leave him outside before you return, alright?”

Deceit isn’t keen on being treated like a dog, but it’s almost a relief to be allowed to just...wander, even if Virgil insists on playing “fetch”, clapping gleefully each time Deceit returns whatever is thrown.

Deceit tries not to feel hurt when Virgil makes him stay out of the bedroom once it approaches night, instead wandering around the main part of the mindscape.

He almost considers walking, but he was pretty certain he wasn’t supposed to do that anymore, so he keeps crawling, until he spots Patton, who looks tired and sad and everything that Deceit secretly hated to see on him.

...

Therapy dogs were a thing, right?

Maybe Patton would feel better if Deceit offered comfort.

He sits by the sofa and knocks a pack of tissues off the table to get his attention.

Patton looks over at Deceit, sat by the sofa, and watches as Deceit pats the cushion softly, as if prompting him to sit.

Patton sighs, then walks over, sitting on the sofa, at which point Deceit crawls onto it, curling up on his lap and blinking slowly.

“... Are you trying to...be nice?” Patton asks, “...I’ve not seen you try to offer comfort before.”

Deceit shrugs, nuzzling against Patton gently.

“... You seem better than before, I suppose,” Patton mumbles,  stroking his hair, “ I mean...kinda...I don’t know,  I’m sorry, I’m so...confused...”

Deceit nods,  sighing silently at the feel of a hand in his hair.  He just wanted some love. If he was going to be a pet, then, well, didn’t pets get love?

“... Sorry, Dee, I don’t feel like I can do anything,” Patton admits, “...but if you want to be...um...gosh not pet, that’s...”

D eceit tries not to sigh  again at the use of his name, and closes his eyes.  He wasn’t going to be allowed to share with Virgil for a while, but maybe Patton would let him sleep with him for the night?

P atton keeps stroking Deceit gently,  watching the side fall asleep.

“ I’ll think of something,” he says finally, “I promise...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's room makes you anxious, Logan's room makes your head clearer.


	12. Protection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patton slaps Virgil, and Logan agrees to play with Deceit.

“There you are!”

Deceit opens his eyes to see Virgil grinning down at him.

“Get off the sofa, silly, Logan says I need to keep my pets off the furniture.”

Deceit bites his lip and climbs off, kneeling down and looking up at Virgil, who ruffles his hair and murmurs how cute he is.

“You want some food?” Virgil asks him, “I have some very nice food ready for you, if you want it.”

Deceit is ashamed at how he nods quickly, and pauses when Patton wakes up.

“...V-Virgil?” Patton asks weakly, and the side nods.

“That’s me. Oh, Patton, later can you and Logan discuss what job Thomas should have on the side? Need it to be family friendly, or at least with an ethical company,” Virgil smiles, and for a moment Patton forgets what Virgil and Logan have been doing, and nods, before pausing.

“Wait...Virgil!”

“Yes, Patton?”

“Leave Deceit alone!”

“Deceit? Oh, you mean my pet...hm, no. I don’t think so, Pat,” Virgil smirks, “anyways, I’ve got to keep Thomas calm today...come on, pet, let’s go feed you, and then give Roman and Remus the run down of today’s activities...”

Virgil turns to leave, and Patton moves, acting out of raw anger and injustice, smacking Virgil hard on the back of the head.

Deceit freezes, staring up at the two, watching as Virgil turns around slowly, watching as Patton suddenly goes from angry to fearful.

“Did you just _hit_ me?” Virgil asks, venom in his voice, “you little-”

Deceit throws himself against Virgil, pressing himself against Virgil’s legs and nuzzling, hoping to distract or calm him down. Virgil looks down and Deceit hesitates, before throwing whatever shred of dignity he has away, lying down to show his stomach before nuzzling again.

Virgil grins, then laughs.

“Oh god, you really _are_ a little puppy!” he claps eagerly, “are you that keen on me not hurting Patton for what he just did?”

Patton looks distraught, but Deceit no longer cares, nodding quickly and playing along, aware of what Virgil liked to see.

“Hmm...well, tell you what...just this once, I’ll forgive you, Patton,” Virgil smirks, “be thankful that I’ve got such a well trained puppy, or else I’d beat you with a heated bar of iron.”

Patton cringes, stepping back, the fight fading as quickly as it rose.

Deceit meanwhile, is suddenly aware that he was able to make a difference.

_Dangerous thoughts,_ his head tells him,  _you know Virgil would beat them out of you if he knew you were thinking that way._

He knows.

Roman and Remus aren’t happy to see Virgil, but they’re relieved to see Deceit, who looks no worse for wear that before.

“Dee!” Roman gets up, and pauses when Virgil tuts.

“If you want to pet my dog, you have to ask,” Virgil says, voice too sweet, “as nicely as you can.”

“...I refuse to-” Roman cuts off, seeing Deceit looking up at him pleadingly, “...fine. May I...May I... _pet_ your...your dog, please, Virgil?”

Virgil grins and nods, letting go of the leash Deceit is on, and taking a seat elsewhere.

“I’m just here to let you two know that Logan wants the next video to be a bit more mature. He suggested politics, but he acknowledges that you two will have better ideas, being the creativitwins and all that...”

Roman doesn’t pay attention, wrapping his arms around Deceit, who nuzzles close up against him whilst Virgil speaks, basking in the attention and affection of someone he liked.

“Can Deceit stay with us for a bit?” Roman asks quietly when Virgil finishes, and Virgil tilts his head.

“Everyone wants my pet today,” he mumbles, “but he’s _my_ pet...”

“Yes, I know he is,” says a voice behind him, and Virgil turns, gasps and hugs Logan, who hugs him back, “but he’s distracting you a bit.”

“But Lo, I need to _train_ him!” Virgil whines.

“Get your work done quickly,” Logan says calmly, “come on. Later we can play with him all you want, alright?”

Deceit curls in on himself and Virgil hums.

“Alright, if I get to play later...” Virgil grins, “but you have to play as well.”

“I said we, didn’t I?” Logan kisses his forehead and looks at the twins, “if you two get distracted as well by Virgil’s pet, then I’m going to whip you until you’re ready to be as obedient as the pet.”

And the pair leave, with Roman desperately trying to comfort Deceit whilst Remus starts the work quickly, not willing to have anyone else down.

“We have to stop them somehow,” Remus explains, “and Deceit, we’ll need you for that...with you we outnumber them...”

“We need to think cleverly,” Roman quietly pipes up with, picking up Deceit easily and carrying him over, “brute force won’t cut it. This is Logan, after all...”

The pair turn to Deceit, who, upon Roman sitting down, curls up on his lap and shrugs.

“Come on, Dee, you’re a tough cookie,” Remus says, “the sort of tough cookie that nobody wants to eat because it’s all rough and hard and ooh hard like-”

“ _Remus!”_

“Ah, right...sorry. But Dee, come on. You’re still in there, right?”

Deceit glances at Remus, then turns away, burying his face.

_If I can keep Virgil at bay, maybe they’ll be safe._

_If I can keep Virgil at bay, maybe they can get to Logan._

_No. That’s stupid. I’m stupid._

_But I can keep Virgil from hurting the others._

_I can keep them safe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muhahaha-


	13. Playing With Puppy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan and Virgil play with Deceit, and Deceit is protective of Roman.

“Has he used the litter box yet?” Logan asks, stroking Virgil’s hair, and Virgil nods.

“Took a while, but yes. Oh! And I fed him!”

“Good boy,” Logan smiles softly, “you’ve done well today. You took care of your pet, you did your tasks, and you even let others play with him.”

Virgil huffs slightly. “It’d be more fun if I could have another pet...”

“We’ve discussed this. You can’t handle more than one pet at a time. Just look at what happened with Curiosity. Barely had a chance to be a side and you-”

“I said I was _sorry_ ,” Virgil mutters, and pokes Logan, “you said you’d play with my pet.”

“I did, didn’t I? Maybe we should use the play room for that...”

Deceit almost makes a sound, Logan’s foot on the back of his head, forcing his face into a pile of maggots, arms restrained behind his back and Virgil on his legs.

“Eat,” Logan orders, “you know the consequences if you don’t.”

And Deceit _almost_ cries as he obeys, Virgil’s laughter in the background.

Deceit doesn’t know how many times they’ve beat him, and he doesn’t know how many parts his arm has been broken into.

Logan twists again, and there’s another loud snap that _almost_ brings a noise out of Deceit.

Virgil pulls again, and there’s a sickening crunch that Deceit almost bites his tongue off in an attempt to not speak.

He’s left in the “play room”, door open, told he can leave whenever he wants, but that he has to be back by seven if he wants breakfast.

He’s bruised all over, the taste of maggots remains on his tongue, and his arm is swollen and broken in so many places it might as well be scattered Lego.

_I will never let them do this to the others._

He forces his way back, using two of his extra arms to help crawl, whilst supporting his broken arm, and is almost relieved to be given breakfast, thankful to get the taste out of his mouth.

Virgil pets him gently, cooing over how good and cute he is.

“I love my pet,” Virgil says with a smile, “you’re the best pet I’ve had so far.”

Deceit nods slightly, going along with it, and trying not to whine at the smell of Virgil and Logan’s breakfast. Sizzling bacon and fresh boiled eggs on toast smells like heaven, and he has to cover his mouth to keep from making a noise when he hears the crunch of the toast.

He spends the day with Virgil for the most part, occasionally being told to do “tricks”.

“Roll over!” Virgil says eagerly, and Deceit winces as his broken arm crunches beneath him, but it only makes Virgil laugh.

“You’re adorable!” Virgil grins, “roll over again!”

Deceit does so, just as Roman walks in holding a collection of paper, pausing at the sight.

“Virgil, what did you do to his arm?!” he demands, running over, dropping the papers.

“Uh uh, don’t touch him,” warns Virgil, “he’s being trained.”

“This is inhumane,” Roman protests.

“Then it’s good that he’s not a human!” Virgil grins, “he’s a dog.”

“If anything, he’s a _snake_ ,” Roman snaps, “and you need to stop this.”

Deceit looks between the two warily, and watches Virgil smile widely, so sweetly.

“I suppose those scales do make him look like a snake...”

“...Don’t you dare!!”

Deceit shuffles back.

“Oh? Got a better idea for me, Princey?” Virgil smirks, “I enjoyed whipping you. Maybe we should repeat that. I can’t promise I’ll stop when you pass out though.”

“I...” Roman isn’t sure how to respond to that, “...w-would it stop you…?”

Deceit _knows_ it’s a trap. At least, he thinks. He doesn’t trust his judgement any-more. But he doesn’t think Virgil would actually start removing scales...it didn’t sound genuine...but…

“Oh of course!” Virgil grins, “but then again, even if it didn’t...would you want to take the risk?”

And Deceit understands _there_. Virgil will do what he wants and happily convince others to be hurt for a sliver of hope.

“I…I do-”

Deceit waves his hand, and Roman gasps as he’s silenced by his own hand. Virgil cackles, clapping and turning to Deceit.

“Oh you make such a good villain,” he laughs, “a good puppy _and_ a good villain...no wonder Thomas thought _you_ were the one to worry about!”

Roman looks distraught, but Virgil turns back to the papers, picking them up and reading through, nodding along.

“This looks good though, Princey,” he smiles, softer, “Logan will like this. One moment...I’ll be right back...”

Virgil leaves the room humming, and Deceit releases Roman’s hand, the creative side breathing deeply, practically seething, before forcing himself to calm down as to not scare Deceit.

“Why would you do that?” Roman mutters, “I just wanted to try help you...”

Deceit glances at the door.

_They won’t know._

_Just say it._

_Out loud._

_Just say it._

_They’ll know._

_They won’t._

_Just say it!_

“I...don’t want...to see you...become like me,” Deceit croaks out.


	14. Patton Is Very Upset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Roman tries to comfort Deceit, but Virgil kicks him out, so he goes to Patton.

Virgil sighs heavily, overhearing his pet talk. He had been _so sure_ he’d taught his pet better, but there we go. Maybe he just needed a better lesson? Yes…

He makes a note to tell Logan, and gets going.

Roman meanwhile wraps his arms around Deceit gently, reassuring him gently that it was going to be okay, even though Deceit knew Roman didn’t believe it.

But it would be okay.

So long as nobody else got hurt.

He was sure the other three could come up with something.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” Roman whispers quietly, “I’m...I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner, Dee.”

Deceit flinches at the nickname but shrugs, shuffling closer to Roman, feeling the safe touch that had been neglected for so long. He just wanted to be held close, and preferably for a good few hours.

He doesn’t care about the pain in his arm, pressing closer and feeling the burn, knowing it was going to heal horrifically at best.

At least he can have cuddles for now.

But then Virgil returns and shoos Roman from the room, before turning to Deceit.

For a moment, Deceit fears Virgil will know he spoke, but instead Virgil ruffles his hair, a bit too harshly.

“Want to go for a walk when I finish my work?” Virgil asks, grinning, “go see the others, get some fresh air and all that...”

Deceit hesitates, then nods, leaning into the touch even though he hated it. Anything for a bit of touch. And at least on a “walk” he could see the others, make sure they really weren’t hurt.

“He spoke, Ree, he actually spoke,” Roman says, hushed but eager, “I feel like...like we have a chance, you know?”

“But what do we do?” Remus asks, “whatever happens, we _need_ Logic and Anxiety. I mean, otherwise I’d have just killed them already.”

“Maybe we can reset them?” Roman suggests.

“Oh sure, because that worked on Sleep,” Remus mutters, “good thing fragments aren’t needed to keep Thomas, well, Thomas...”

The pair fall silent at the mention of their old friend, and Roman shakes himself out of it.

“We should discuss this with Patton,” he says finally, “Patton might be able to offer more ideas.”

Patton was curled up on his bed, surrounded by blankets and with tear tracks on his face when the twins enter his room.

Around them are destroyed photo frames, pictures with Virgil and Logan ripped out.

Right...the heart would take this the worst…

“Patton…?” Roman asks gently, “Patton, do you...are you...”

Patton looks up and sniffs.

“Sorry...I...I’m fine...how can I help…?” he tries to put on his happy smile, but it doesn’t reach his still wet and shiny eyes.

“Patton, talk to us,” Roman says, sitting down.

“You look like crap,” Remus says, sitting by Roman, “like, real crap. Literal-”

“ _Remus!”_

Patton sniffs, and laughs weakly.

“I...I just...really thought they were our friends...and now they’ve gone and betrayed us...and oh god what they’ve done to Deceit...”

Roman bites his lip.

“Yeah...um...so, they...broke Deceit’s arm,” he mumbles, wincing at the memory, “it was...awful...it’s swollen and bumpy and you could tell he could barely move it...”

Patton looks green, and Remus changes the topic, blurting out about cats and their mating habits.

Suddenly, Logan pops in, and the three turn and glare hard at him.

“Salutations. Patton, I’m going to have to borrow you for a bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fear not, Patton's a good guy in this :)


	15. So Many Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out why Logan borrowed Patton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I predict screaming.

Deceit dislikes being put on a leash, and he dislikes the fact that Virgil insists on bringing “doggy bags”, as if he were actually going to stoop that low.

_Let’s face it, you would if you felt you had to._

He chooses not to acknowledge that thought.

He’s suspicious of Virgil’s good mood, but at least Virgil walks slower than usual, allowing for his limping crawl, one of his extra arms supporting the broken one. And yet, that only makes him more suspicious. Usually Virgil was keen to make broken bones worse.

“Let’s see Roman and Remus first,” he says sweetly, yanking Deceit into their room and calling out to the twins.

“Fuck you, Virgil,” snarls Roman.

“Where the _fuck_ did you take Patton?” Remus demands, “I swear to god, I will-”

“Ah-ah,” Virgil grins, “insult me and I might just kick Deceit’s poor broken arm...”

Deceit curls in on himself.

“What do you want?” Roman snaps.

“Oh, my pet and I were just taking a walk,” Virgil says, humming, “isn’t he just the most perfect pet? I adore him so much...”

“Shut it,” growls Remus, “or I’ll...I mean...just shut it.”

“No,” Virgil smirks, “I want to show my pretty little pet off. I’m making sure you two understand who he belongs to. I _own_ him, and I can do anything I please, whenever I please.”

Deceit’s heart begins to race, certain that something bad was about to happen.

“Please don’t,” Roman whispers, “please...”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Virgil smiles sweetly, too sweetly, “I’m being careful. Logan says I have to be careful with this one...”

“This one?” Roman echoes.

“Oh yes...I don’t want him to end up like my old pets...” Virgil sighs, “fragments are so fragile...”

Roman goes to speak and Deceit presses up against Virgil, trying to work out how to convince him to leave, and ends up gently tugging on his jeans with his teeth before nodding in the direction of the door.

“You wanna keep going?” Virgil smiles, “well...I suppose we should pay Patton a visit...see you soon, _Princey_ and...ugh, you.”

Deceit is very confused when Virgil leads him away from Patton’s room, and feels fear upon getting close to a familiar door between Virgil and Logan’s room.

Suddenly Virgil stops, and yanks Deceit’s leash hard, pulling him up close, crouching to glare close to his face.

“Listen here, bitch,” he snaps, “I overheard you speaking earlier. Which is _exactly_ what we told you not to do, remember?”

Deceit tries not to whimper, shaking and closing his eyes tightly, trying not to acknowledge the terror of what might happen to him because of his brief words.

“So Logan’s going to make sure you understand, and that you’re ready to be a _good pet_ , because if you’re a bad pet...” Virgil breathes deeply, “...well, I don’t want to have to introduce you to the others.”

Deceit doesn’t understand, and his fear doesn’t care.

Logan comes out the door. The pair kiss, and then Logan takes the leash and pulls Deceit into the room.

“You knew the rules,” Logan tells him, tugging on the leash harshly, “I told you what would happen if you spoke. So, I borrowed Patton for a bit...”

Deceit is dragged into the Play Room, trying desperately not to make a sound despite the way his broken arm is forced against the floor, and looks up to see Patton chained to the wall, arms and legs so firmly attached that he had no hope of doing much except wriggling his torso.

He’s crying.

_This is your fault._

“Here’s how it works,” Logan says calmly, “you get a choice. Choice one, is that I will cut off Patton’s arm, and you will lose another finger on your almost fingerless hand.”

Deceit recoils as best as he can on the leash, looking over at Patton, who is still sobbing.

“Choice two, _pet_ , is that you will remove one of Patton’s fingers, and I will cut off one of your extra arms.”

Deceit almost whimpers, begins to shake, trembling at the memories of having his fingers cut off, at the pain, the blood, the crunch of the bone.

He looks at the tray of tools, remembers how much blood there was on the tools after just a finger was removed.

_Just choose the first choice, idiot. You really want to find out how painful it is to have an arm removed?_

_No! No, if you do that then Patton will be the one hurt!!_

“One finger up for choice one. Two for choice two.”

_Shut up! We can’t afford any more damage! Look at us!_

_No, shut up! We need to keep them safe!_

Deceit’s eyes are wet with tears as Logan forces his head up by the chin.

“Choose, _now_ , pet,” he orders, practically snarling, “or I swear I’ll just cut bits off until you rip your vocal chords screaming.”


	16. Two Arms, One Arm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which amputations happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Suicidal thoughts in this chapter.

Deceit flinches but shakily holds up two fingers. He couldn’t let Patton take so much damage because of his mistake. He didn’t care what happened, he had to protect them all for as long as possible.

“Ah, so that’s your choice?” Logan smirks, “how admirable. Go on, then.” He drops the leash. “Pick a finger and remove it.”

Deceit shakily reaches for the tools, and Logan bats his hand away.

“Pets don’t get to use tools.”

_Then how…?_

“Be creative,” Logan teases, “you’re around the twins enough, I’m sure you learned something from them.”

Deceit winces, looking down at his non-broken arm.

“Get on with it, pet.”

Deceit looks over at Patton, who has gone from sobbing to screaming, desperately struggling.

_You have to do this. Otherwise he’ll be hurt more._

Deceit crawls over, and carefully stands, wobbly on his feet, using the wall for support. Patton looks at him helplessly, begging him not to do it, to help, to do something.

_This is all I can do._

“Please, please, Dee-”

Deceit grabs Patton’s little finger.

_Tear it off. You have to!_

It crunches when he snaps it, but it doesn’t come off. Patton screams in pain, and Deceit almost throws up there and then.

_Tear it the other way._

He tugs at the finger harshly, trying desperately to rip it off, but it only swells and bulges at the break, so fragile and yet so resilient to Deceit’s feeble strength.

_Yeah, four months of near starvation will do that to you, idiot._

He sobs as Patton stops screaming, too much pain, too overwhelming for the moral side to do anything but stare blankly ahead, shaking and trembling as best as his restraints allow.

“Do it, pet,” Logan reminds him, “you _can_ do it.”

Vaguely, Deceit remembers Remus talking about how you can technically bite off a finger, but your brain rejects the idea.

_Try it. We have to get this done one way or another._

Deceit hesitates, then pulls the finger into his mouth and bites down.

Blood fills his mouth, and the finger hits the back of his throat, limp and lifeless, making him gag.

He falls back, coughing up the finger and immediately throwing up.

Patton screams, and is cut off by passing out, whether from shock or pain or blood loss.

_What will Thomas think of you now?_

_You’re a monster._

_You bit someone’s finger off._

He looks up at Logan weakly, who walks over and sighs.

“I heard you sob.”

Logan kicks him hard at his broken elbow, and then stamps down hard on the shattered remnants of Deceit’s broken wrist.

Deceit doesn’t dare scream, biting down hard on his tongue until it bleeds.

“Better...now, stay quiet. Lie down and put your non-broken arm out ready for me. And if this exercise doesn’t make you obey us, then...well...”

_You just have to keep the others safe._

_I don’t want to hurt any more._

_You need to keep them all safe!_

_Please, I don’t want to hurt any more._

_Shut up and keep them safe!_

_Please just let me fade._

Deceit doesn’t scream when Logan gets to work, cutting through the bicep with more precision and medical knowledge than Virgil ever had.

“Don’t worry,” Logan says with a smile when Deceit starts to go pale, “you’re going to have a good stump, and maybe one day Virgil and I will give you a prosthetic.”

Deceit isn’t allowed to pass out.

He’s awake, alert and feeling the pain throughout, to the very last stitch of the skin.

And he still doesn’t make a sound.

_Please just let me fade._


	17. In The Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit makes a discovery, and the other three make a plan.

Deceit isn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he’s suddenly aware that he’s waking up.

He goes to push himself up, but neither arms want to move, and he’s distinctly aware of how painful one arm is. Remus probably played a prank on him again or something.

He rolls his eyes and looks down, expecting to see restraints and a “fooled ya!” card.

Instead he sees one swollen arm, that seems almost bubbly at parts, lying there unmovable, and one arm that stops in the middle of his upper arm.

He almost screams when he’s brought back to the present.

_No, don’t. Just use your other arms. We have to survive this._

He gingerly lets three of his other arms out, using one to support his broken arm and the other two to push him upright.

He looks around.

Patton isn’t there any more – he hopes he’s okay.

The door is shut.

He’s alone in the darkened room.

He sighs inaudibly, and decides he might as well...explore...until his torturers return.

He crawls along slowly, limping in a way, not used to using his other arms this way, and he almost falls over a couple of times from his mis-matched weigh distribution.

There’s blood on the floor. Dried blood, but blood nonetheless.

There’s a fingernail embedded in the concrete, along with deep scratch marks, and Deceit shudders at the thought.

Chains. Whips. A bag of something squishy that squirms and writhes. Knives. Surgical tools. The list goes on, and Deceit can only recoil so much before his back is against the door-

Wait. Door? No, wrong side. The door is…

He turns around, and notices a barely visible door that he hadn’t previously noticed in the darkness.

He tries the doorknob with a spare arm, and to his surprise, it turns.

He peeks in.

Inside is a room full of half formed sides, some fused together in ways resembling a mad scientist’s creation. Heads not quite together, too many or too few arms dangling off, legs broken and twisted.

He stares in horror, repulsed and trying not to throw up.

“ _VirGIL? NOt vIRgil?”_

They seem to speak as one, and Deceit can only stare as one...thing...with a familiar looking face crawls over.

He can’t move as it touches his cheek.

_Those eyes…_ he realises, suddenly remembering the sleepy fragment that vanished from the mindscape years ago  following a failed reset.

“ _NoT Vir_ _G_ _iL...”_

It slinks back, limbs trailing behind it half melted, sticking to the floor as it moves in short, jerky movements.

Deceit slams the door shut and shuffles back as much as he can before slipping, lying still and shaking, not wanting to know what Virgil did to make them that way.

Patton had been returned to Roman and Remus with one less finger, sobbing and clinging to the pair, whispering about the way Deceit had been forced to tear off his finger with his teeth, the choice between Patton losing an arm or a finger.

“That’s horrific,” Roman mutters, unable to think of what to say, holding Patton tighter, “shit...don’t worry, we’ll make them pay...”

“Let’s just reset them,” Remus hisses, “if it works, then great. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll just lock them away and let their bodies melt.”

Patton whimpers.

“W-We can’t do that!” he protests, “I...I don’t think...we can’t give _anyone_ that fate...”

“You’re wrong,” Remus argues, “they need to be reset, especially Logan.”

“But if it doesn’t work then...” Patton glances away, “...I don’t want them to suffer like Sleep did.”

“They deserve it,” Remus snaps.

“Stop it, both of you,” Roman says quickly, “...we need to do something, Patton. Remus, we need them to be reset _properly_. We can’t afford...we can’t afford to mess up. Just in case.”

Remus and Patton don’t respond for a bit. Patton continues to tremble, and Remus looks ready to cry.

“Let’s reset them,” Roman says calmly, “and whilst that happens...we can focus on making sure everyone recovers from this...especially Deceit.”

Patton nods slowly, as does Remus.

“...Sorry for upsetting you, Patton,” Remus says reluctantly, “I shouldn’t have been so...rude. Uh...would you like a prosthetic finger made?”

Patton hesitates, looking down at his hand.

“...Yes please. And...sorry for upsetting you as well. I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”

Roman sighs in relief.

“So we have a plan?”

The two nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D Virgil's fate is next chapter! Any guesses?


	18. Pets Don't Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Virgil goes...a little nuts.

Deceit is curled up shaking when Virgil comes back, and is almost happy to see him.

“Hey there...” Virgil grins and walks over, “how’s my pet feeling? A bit more obedient?”

Deceit doesn’t reply, of course, and Virgil hums, crouching and placing a hand on his stump, making him flinch away.

“No, let me touch it,” Virgil orders, but Deceit pulls back anyway, “...oh? Oh, are you still going to be disobedient?”

Virgil starts to shake and Deceit desperately tries to move away, only for Virgil to grab his broken arm tightly.

“Oh no, you don’t get to leave,” Virgil snarls, “you’re my pet! All I wanted was for you to obey me and be a good pet! But you-”

Deceit almost screams when Virgil twists his shattered arm, crying and yet not daring to make a noise.

“If you want to be a bad pet, I’ll _treat_ you like a bad pet,” Virgil warns, voice low, and Deceit decides there and then that he has to do something.

He pulls away from Virgil despite the pain, using his extra arms to scramble away, even as Virgil yells at him, grabbing something from a table and throwing it at Deceit, slicing his cheek.

Deceit sobs silently and tries to move, feeling himself be dragged back by his foot, struggling and writhing as hard as he can against his tormentor.

“You’re a stupid useless mutt,” Virgil snaps, pinning Deceit down roughly, “and I’m going to make you wish you were dead.”

Deceit struggles and yet Virgil is shoving needles down his throat, then gagging him with a tight piece of cloth, keeping them in despite Deceit trying to get them out.

Virgil slaps him hard and the needles pierce through his cheek, sending jolts of pain throughout his body.

Deceit can’t breathe. Can’t risk breathing in the needles. Virgil has his hands around his neck, and he has to _do something._

He has to _survive_ this.

_Think of Thomas._

_Think of Remus._

_Think of Patton._

_Think of Roman._

(There’s a finger dangerously close to his eye, his leg is being bent the wrong way.)

_Think of yourself, god damn it!_

He uses every ounce of strength he has to shove Virgil off him, crawling away quickly, just trying to reach the door, get out, get to safety.

Virgil crawls after him, yelling and grabbing at his hair.

The gag comes undone in the struggle, and Deceit spits the needles out in Virgil’s face, shuffling away and desperately crawling to the door before realising it’s _the wrong door_.

Virgil grabs him in the moment he panics, shoving him up against the wall beside the door.

“I’m going to feed you your own eyeballs,” Virgil snarls, and Deceit almost whimpers, shaking and barely breathing, “I’m going to feed you nothing but your own vomit for _months_ , and I’m going to break your limbs so bad you’ll never be able to move again.”

Virgil’s breathing is laboured, almost unhinged, his eyes are wide and angry, and Deceit has no doubt that he’ll do it.

He goes to beg, but Virgil’s aiming a wrench at one of his spare arms and it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t make a difference.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

His ribs cave in against him.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

His left leg is bleeding, a deep chasm in the thigh.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

One less arm is usable.

Virgil aims the wrench to his face and Deceit acts on instinct and panic, reaching out to the doorknob and opening it.

Virgil’s eyes widen further suddenly, dropping the wrench and yelling. He lets go of Deceit, goes to shut the door-

_VirGiL? nOT vIRgiL?_

_...viRGil!!_

Deceit isn’t sure what happens, but suddenly the mass of half formed sides descends upon Virgil, dragging him into the room behind the door, all calling for him.

“Deceit!” Virgil yells, “Dee-I’m sorry, please, tell them to stop!! Please!!”

Deceit stares into the room, watching as one of the creatures starts to tear off Virgil’s skin, the side screaming.

“Deceit!! Please!!”

Virgil is crying.

_You should help him._

_He deserves it._

_You can’t leave him there._

…

“...Sorry, Virgil,” Deceit rasps, forcing himself to speak, “...pets don’t talk, remember?”

And he shuts the door on Virgil’s screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should note that Virgil isn't dead. The sides can't die-


	19. Better Get There In Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan finds out what Deceit did to Virgil, and the other three set out to save Deceit.  
> (I listened to “Hurry Up and Save Me” so much when writing this XD)

Deceit doesn’t stay there. He crawls out as best as he can, ignoring the trail of blood he leaves behind him, ignoring the needles poking through his cheek, ignoring the pain and how off balance he is. He just needs to get to Roman and Remus and Patton.

And not get caught by Logan, sure, but-

He pauses as he does exactly that, crawling straight into Logan’s legs, the side looking down.

“...You.”

Logan’s voice is cold, Deceit shuffles back as best as he can, seeing the way Logan starts to shake, fists clenching.

“What did you do to Virgil?”

Deceit wants to lie, but he can’t bring himself to talk.

“I _know_ you did something to him, or you wouldn’t be here!”

Logan grabs Deceit by the collar around his neck, yanking him up hard even as Deceit struggles weakly and coughs slightly.

“Did you put him through the door?” Logan demands, “answer me or I swear I’ll give you the same fate as every other pet.”

Deceit goes pale and tries lying by shaking his head. Logan goes right through it, and immediately sets off, dragging Deceit along.

Deceit can’t walk, ends up just choking on the collar as he’s forcibly dragged back to the room he just escaped from.

Logan lifts him up and forces him down onto a metal slab, Deceit too busy gasping for breath to notice Logan clamping his arms and legs down, even the pitifully broken arm.

“If Virgil isn’t complete, you’re going to regret everything.”

And Logan heads over to the door, leaving Deceit terrified and struggling helplessly, wincing as his injuries are worsened by the struggling, by the clamps, by everything that’s happened.

Roman and Patton search for Logan, Virgil and Deceit whilst Remus sets up everything needed for a reset.

“I can get the room ready in an hour,” Remus told them, “make sure they’re physically in one piece, otherwise we’re risking a Sleep situation all over again.”

So now they had to find the trio, which was proving to be more difficult than they expected.

And then they hear screaming, hear yelling and shouting and crying.

“...That direction,” Roman points, and they run, hoping to get there in time.

When Logan pulls Virgil out, dragging him out and slamming the door shut on the screaming creatures, Virgil is pale and shaking, crying and looking traumatised. There are cuts and bruises all over his body, his foot has been ripped off, his arms are broken, and there are chunks of flesh ripped from his skin in several places, even down to the bone.

“Virgil...” Logan is so soft, and it scares Deceit even further.

“They were trying to get me to fix them,” Virgil whispers, whimpering slightly, “when I couldn’t they decided to try get my body to do it themselves...”

Logan growls, low and angry.

“You’re going to be okay,” he tells Virgil, “we’ll borrow a foot from Deceit to replace yours, and we’ll get you healed, okay?”

Deceit struggles hard against his restraints even harder.

“Sounds good...”

Virgil passes out, and Logan spends his time patching the side up, lifting him gently onto another metal slab, using the remnants of his hoodie as a pillow.

Logan turns back to Deceit.

“You’re in so much trouble now,” Logan growls, and Deceit almost whimpers, too afraid to actually do so, even though he couldn’t get in any _worse_ trouble.

He sees Logan walk over to a cupboard, pulling out a set of needles and syringes, something glistening inside.

“Virgil has a habit of ruining his pets until they can barely function,” Logan says smoothly as he sorts his things out, “and I always try to fix them using my chemistry knowledge. Of course, it often fails...they mutate into some sort of mindless disgusting _creature_.”

Deceit starts crying, struggling harder, even as he feels his bones begin to crack, weakened from the abuse he’s suffered over the past few months.

“I wonder what you’ll look like,” Logan muses, “I mean, you already look like some mindless disgusting creature...this could improve you...”

Deceit watches in terror as Logan turns, needle and syringe ready.

_Call for help!_

_I can’t!_

_Call!_

_I can’t, I can’t!_

_Make some noise then!_

_No, he’ll-_

_You have nothing to lose, make noise! Scream, shout, whatever!_

_I...I…_

_Do it!! Otherwise we’re finished!_

He screams, screams like his life depends on it.

Because it does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hums innocently*


	20. The Pet Needs His Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the comfort part of hurt/comfort begins...kind of...

The needle shoves into Deceit’s skin and he screams, struggling and sobbing, staring up into Logan’s cold eyes and knowing that it could be the last thing he properly registers.

And then someone’s shoving Logan away, snapping the needle, stopping the mutation chemicals being injected into him.

He looks around fearfully, and sighs with relief as he spots Roman and Patton, but equally remains terrified, because he can’t keep them safe and what if they’re hurt?!

He watches as Roman shoves Logan to the ground, sitting on him to stop him escaping, even as Logan struggles and yells. And he watches as Roman smacks him hard on the back of the head, hard enough to knock Logan out, the logical side going silent as he goes limp.

Patton is busy looking over Virgil, the side equally as unconscious.

“I don’t think we can reset Virgil in this state-oh gosh Deceit!!” Patton suddenly registers the shaking and broken side, running over and frantically undoing the restraints, letting him loose.

Deceit sobs and despite the cracks in his wrists, despite the broken arm, despite the amputated arm, the missing fingers, every wound and injury, just throws his arms around Patton, clinging on as best as he can and sobbing hard.

Roman gets up and runs over as Patton carefully lifts Deceit, the side so light now.

“Dee...we’re here, we’ve got you,” Roman whispers.

“You’re going to be safe now,” Patton reassures him, “we’ve got this planned out...”

He looks at Roman. “Though with Virgil’s state, we can’t reset him...he’ll end up like Sleep...”

“He deserves it,” Roman is bitter and angry, and Deceit whimpers, which makes him soften, “sorry, Dee...um...we’ll just lock Virgil in his room and let him heal...”

Patton holds Deceit close, and Roman, as strong as one would expect a princely knight to be, picks up Logan and Virgil awkwardly and without much care for their comfort.

“So strong,” Patton teases him weakly, and they walk out, Deceit burying his injured face against Patton’s shoulder, careful to keep the needles not sticking into him, “don’t worry Dee, we’ll...we’ll go to Thomas once we have Remus, that way we can heal you as best as we can...”

He doesn’t want to consider Deceit’s amputations, or what the fate of his broken arm will be.

Remus helps Roman seat Logan into the chair, carefully attaching the wires.

“So...what does this actually do?” Patton asks, holding Deceit close still, “I mean...what _should_ it do? I’ve never seen it work...”

“It should just reset Logan to how he...how he was,” Remus says, almost softly, “he’ll remember what he did, but he should have enough morality and sense to know he was wrong...”

“It’s going to be painful though,” Roman mutters, “which is good, he deserves it...”

“And...Virgil…?” Patton’s voice is so soft, covering Deceit’s ears when the side sobs.

“I don’t know...if he heals properly, we can reset him as well...otherwise we just leave him to think about his actions, I guess...” Roman sighs and Remus gently hugs his brother.

“Is it weird if I kiss your forehead?” Remus asks.

“The last time you did that, it was to distract from you bashing my head with your morning star,” Roman replies dryly, “so...less weird, more cause for me to hit you with my sword.”

Remus smirks, and the trio leave the room, taking Virgil out and locking it, letting it start to do it’s thing.

They simply place Virgil in his room, knowing that his injuries were already mostly fixed, because Logan cared about only Virgil and control.

“Let’s go to Thomas now,” Patton murmurs, “we need to make sure he’s okay...but also, he might be able to help Deceit...”

Roman nods, and hesitates.

“May I...take him…? I mean...Dee, may I hold you…?”

Deceit whimpers slightly, torn between responding to his name and letting his conditioning take over, only wanting to respond to “pet”.

He gives in, too tired to fight the conditioning any further.

After multiple attempts, Roman realises.

“...P-Pet? May I hold you?”

Patton and Remus hold their breath as Deceit slowly nods, reaching out shakily to Roman and letting the side take him, holding him close, warm and firm and safe.

“Right...let’s go to Thomas...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	21. Crawling In My Skin Because I Can't Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Thomas feels sick at how badly Deceit has been hurt.

Thomas is tired and anxious and relieved to feel the urge to do as Logan says in his head gone.

He’s less relieved when Patton, Roman and Remus appear with Deceit, who looks like he’s been through hell and back, breathing shallow and weak.

“What happened?” Thomas demands, urging them to place Deceit flat on the floor, even though Deceit weakly whimpers at being let go of.

“Logan and Virgil,” Patton explains quietly, and holds up his hand, the missing finger standing out like, well, like a sore thumb, despite the black humour that came from the comparison.

“What...” Thomas breathes deeply, “I...no...no, tell me that’s not right...I mean, I know they...but this...”

Deceit sobs and they turn their attention to the injured side.

“...Deceit?” Thomas crouches beside, and Deceit whimpers, turning away.

“He...replies to Pet better,” Remus murmurs, “...Virgil trained him, you could say. And if he hadn’t hurt my best friend, I’d find something dark to add to that.”

Thomas bites his lip.

“How do I help…?”

After the situation is explained, Thomas starts focusing on Deceit, trying to determine the extent of the damage. As Deceit was part of him, he was able to work it out through their connection, but he hadn’t done it much before, so it wasn’t easy.

“Calm down De-uh...pet...” he murmurs as Deceit starts to whimper, and bites his lip before turning to the other three, “it...it’s pretty bad...”

“How bad?” Remus asks, Roman hugging Patton tightly, the moral side ready to cry.

“Uh...well...he’s malnourished and underweight, and his wrists are broken...plus...that arm...” Thomas eyes the swollen, lumpy, useless arm, “...that’s just...disturbing...um...basically, I don’t think there’s any part of him that they haven’t hurt in some way...plus...uh…”

“Plus what?” Remus tries not to sound demanding or intimidating, but Thomas still flinches.

“...De-Pet, uh...try stand...”

Deceit stares at Thomas, desperate and silently pleading, but Thomas motions for him to stand.

“Please, I need to check something...”

And Deceit is so used to being ordered around that he can barely fight the... _desire_ , in a way...to obey.

He carefully forces himself to his feet, standing and wobbling for a few moments before collapsing, knees giving way. Thomas catches him, and gently lowers him back down, and Deceit whines when Thomas lets go of him.

“What was that?!” Patton pulls away from Roman and runs over to comfort Deceit, stroking his hair gently whilst the side whines.

“Yeah...uh...so I sense damage to the knees. I don’t know what exactly they’ve done, but his knees are...more or less ruined. I don’t think he _can_ walk.”

“...So Thomas’ explanation suggests that his crawling around might not be entirely to do with his conditioning,” Roman murmurs, “I mean, we saw him standing...before Logan and Virgil ganged up on him...”

“I think they used the term “playing”,” Remus says bitterly, “I guess that’s when...” He shudders. “I hate to say it, but maybe they’re more creative than me.”

“Deceit’s...kinda been messed up, hasn’t he?” Patton asks softly, “...do you think he can recover?”

The three turn to Deceit, who refused to sleep anywhere except the dog bed that they’d taken from Logan’s room, cringing at the blood stains. But the side was sleeping, seemingly peacefully, and they weren’t willing to fight him on that.

“...I vote we work on getting him to a healthy weight, and get him to eat human food again,” Roman says, as firmly and confidently as possible, “we can deal with the rest once he’s physically healthy...or, as physically healthy as he can be...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh I wonder if everyone's going to be okay? Thomas is shaken up and Dee's a mess and the other sides sure aren't feeling so good!


	22. Cookies For Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit gets cookies, and Remus makes them.

Patton bakes when stressed, and checking on Virgil was certainly stressful. The side had screamed at him and thrown things and demanded to know where Logan was, all the while not really saying anything that made sense.

In the end he’d had to leave, locking the door and reporting back that Virgil wasn’t really in a good emotional state, and certainly not one where they could talk.

And according to Remus – once you filtered out Remus’ own brand of nonsense – Logan wasn’t reacting physically to the reset, which was a good sign, but equally they had no idea still how long it would take for the mental reset.

And Roman hadn’t had any success feeding Deceit human food, and had to resort to feeding him dog food. Thomas had suggested doing three “meals” a day to try get Deceit used to food, but they had hoped to give him actual food.

Still, maybe cookies would work.

He takes them out of the oven, and Remus appears almost immediately, picking one up and eating it, humming for a few moments.

“I think you need a few more crickets,” he says finally, “I’m guessing you only used half a cup?”

“...I didn’t...I didn’t put any crickets in?”

“Oh...oh, no wonder they taste weird...” Remus pulls a face, and Patton would have been offended if Remus wasn’t just _like this._

“Uh, right! I was going to offer some to Roman and Deceit – and our Thomas of course!” Patton doesn’t miss Remus’ hesitation.

“I don’t think Deceit will accept them,” he says finally, “...not unless you’ve put maggots in these. But I’d taste them-”

“ _Why would I_ -nevermind, keep it cool...I still want to offer them.”

Remus shrugs, and Patton leaves with two cookies on a plate, still fresh and warm.

Deceit is curled up by the sofa, Roman sat on it and gently stroking his hair, an attempt at being affectionate, despite occasionally looking at disgust at the collar around Deceit’s neck. Patton winces, remembering the attempt to get it off. Deceit had become vicious, screaming and struggling and almost becoming violent, before Remus cut in and suggested they stop.

On the plus side, they’d managed to get him into a pair of soft pyjamas, which the side seemed happy about, even if they’d had to...modify them…for the sake of one arm being gone and the other being in thick plaster.

“I have cookies!” Patton says brightly, walking over, and Roman smiles, a little weakly.

“Thank you, padre,” he takes one and eats it, sighing at the warmth, and also at finally getting to taste Patton’s cooking again. Being under the control of Logan and Virgil had left little time for cooking, after all.

Patton offers one to Deceit.

“Hey, uh...p-pet...I have a cookie for you...”

Deceit glances up, looks at the cookie carefully, and then shakes his head.

“Please, Dee?”

“I told ya, unless you put something gross in it he’s not going to eat it,” Remus says, coming in with his own set of cookies, definitely summoned rather than cooked, eating happily, “I mean, I _like_ maggot and cricket cookies, but...”

“You are _not_ feeding those to him,” Roman hisses, and Deceit looks between them all in something close to fear.

_At least Virgil and Logan could decide what to do with you. They were such good masters really, weren’t they?_

_Shut up! We don’t have masters!_

_Please, you do. You just betrayed your old ones and now you’re a pet to the others._

_They aren’t my masters, they’re my friends!_

_Sure, then react to your name._

_I can’t._

_Because you’re their pet. Being a happy pet doesn’t change that you are. Still. A. Pet._

Deceit makes a very soft, almost inaudible whining sound, looking at Remus’ cookies, and Remus holds one out to him.

“No!” Roman snaps, “you aren’t feeding that to him, it’s disgusting, and, and...”

“It’s mostly human food,” Remus argues back, “it’s better than more dog food!”

Deceit looks ready to cry, and Patton reluctantly cuts in.

“Roman, Remus, I’m surprised at you,” he snaps, “stop arguing, you’re upsetting Deceit. Just...Just ask him what he wants.”

The twins pause, and turn to Deceit.

“...Pet,” Remus says finally, “would you...like a maggot and cricket cookie?”

Deceit nods quickly, looking pleadingly up at him, and Remus grimaces.

“Here...”

He puts the plate down, and Deceit starts eating them, eagerly despite wincing at each bite, eyes watery and glistening.

“That’s...” Patton doesn’t know what to say, “... _horrible_.”

Roman puts his head in his hands, and Remus starts muttering to himself.

At least Deceit was eating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can thank the person who suggested cookies for this!


	23. Such A Good Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit gets a snake, reveals he will only use a litter box, and Thomas is concerned for everyone.

Deceit paws at Patton, is the best way to put it. Patton wakes up to Deceit sat up beside him, nudging him with one of his hands.

Patton yawns and checks the time. Five in the morning.

“Are you okay?” he asks, yawning again.

Dee shakes his head and shuffles slightly.

“Need a cuddle?”

Deceit shakes his head and bites his lip.

“Uh...should I get Remus or Roman?”

Deceit goes red and shakes his head quickly.

“Okay...uh, Dee, I actually don’t know what you’re asking,” Patton admits, “could you...write it down? Or...sign?”

Deceit hesitates, then makes an odd wriggling movement and points down.

“...Uh...”

Deceit whines and whimpers, wriggling again, and Patton notices a wet patch and goes red.

“Oh! Toilet? Come on, let’s, uh, let’s go...”

Deceit refuses to use the toilet, and in the end Patton gives in to giving him a litter box, if only because Deceit was crying and whimpering.

Patton makes sure to give him comfort afterwards, holding him close and eventually working out that calling him a “good pet” seems to help. It makes him feel sick, but Deceit relaxes, so he continues, stroking his hair gently.

“Such a good pet,” he murmurs, “the...the best pet...”

Deceit can hear the tears in Patton’s voice and feels guilty. And yet he can’t change it, can’t change how good it feels to be called a good pet.

He hates himself.

_I wish I could just fade._

“How about we give _him_ a pet?” Roman asks, “like, uh...a snake! You know, he loves snakes, maybe looking after a pet snake would help?”

That was pretty much how the conversation of “Deceit is convinced he’s a pet” went.

And also why Patton was now five feet away from a large python, which seemed to hiss at everything he did or said.

“It’s so adorable! Truly tempting me to eat the fruit of knowledge~”

“Remus, focus, this is for Deceit...”

Deceit was curled up in his pet bed, feeling relaxed for once.

_I am a good pet._

_You’re not a pet._

_I’m a good pet, you can’t say otherwise._

_You aren’t a bloody pet!_

He looks up when his masters – his friends – enter, holding a large beautiful snake.

“We have this for you!” Patton says, squeaking when the snake hisses, “uh...as a pet! An actual pet, I mean...”

_You’re being replaced._

_We aren’t a pet. The snake is._

_Maybe they want you to look after their new pet?_

_Maybe-_

_We’re nothing if we aren’t a pet._

_We’re-_

_Our masters want us to care for a snake, so let’s do this._

_We like snakes-_

_Irrelevant._

_This is for us-_

Deceit holds out his second pair of arms, and Roman sees the missing fingers but tries not to comment, holding out the snake, which gently wraps itself around Deceit’s shoulders and arms.

“Do you...like it?” Roman asks, hesitantly.

Deceit blinks.

_He wants our opinion?_

_He just wants to know you’re willing._

Deceit nods, and gently strokes the snake, smiling slightly. He loved it, loved the snake, and yet felt a little jealous. He felt so sure they were replacing him...but he could look after the snake and make sure they still wanted him! He was a good pet, Patton had told him so!!

He just had to show them.

Thomas is not convinced when Deceit and the others turn up, Deceit on his hands and knees with an eleven foot long python on his back, looking cosy and smug. How does a snake look _smug?_

“Are you sure that’s safe?” he asks cautiously, watching it slither down and sit on Deceit’s lap.

Deceit nods, and strokes it gently. Thomas notices the way he smiles, and even the very gentle kiss Deceit offers the snake.

“So, we’ve gotten him to eat three meals,” Patton says, a little hopefully, “he still won’t eat proper food, but, um...at least he’s getting food and calories into him, you know?”

“Virgil and Logan messed him up big time,” Remus mutters, “and I don’t think Virgil was hugely consistent with his abuse in those four months, so I get the impression that Deceit’s kind of confused.”

Thomas nods slowly, watching as Deceit lies down and lets the snake slither over him, a soft smile on his face.

“...What about you guys?” he asks, “I mean...this can’t have been easy on you.”

The three shuffle awkwardly.

“...Managing,” Remus says finally, “I think I’m doing okay. I’m just worried for Deceit.”

“Nightmares,” Patton mumbles, “nightmares and feeling stressed, and...phantom pains from my finger...”

They all wince.

“...Nightmares about being whipped,” Roman admits, “and nightmares about Deceit...and...I just feel like shit...”

Thomas nods slowly.

“...I love you guys,” he says simply, “and I’m always here for you. I mean, obviously, you _are_ me...”

“How are you holding up?” Patton asks cautiously.

“...Tired,” Thomas admits, “...I’m just tired...and...sad...yeah...”

The sides crowd around for a group cuddle, and although they offer Deceit to join, Deceit shakes his head and just watches.

He still had to show he was a _good pet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look how quick this was!


	24. Is Deceit A Good Pet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit decides a good pet gets used, and Roman refuses to beat him with a crowbar.

Deceit waited until the snake got cosy in his bed, a bit cross that he’d have to use the floor. Well, Roman had offered the sofa, and his bed, but Deceit was determined to be a good pet.

He crawled back into Virgil’s room, careful to pick up the items he was looking for with his mouth, knowing that _good pets_ don’t use their arms to pick things up.

He decided he should go to Roman first. Roman was stressed and upset, and could do with having a _good pet_ to use.

Not to say that Deceit wasn’t nervous, of course. But Roman was a good master, and might go gentle…

Roman is still awake when Deceit crawls in, and is at first hopeful that Deceit will accept the offer of sleeping on the bed.

And then he sees the blood stained crowbar in his mouth, and is upright and terrified and confused all at once.

Deceit settles it down, nudges it, points at himself, and takes off his pyjama top with a bit of struggling.

Roman stares, even more so when Deceit looks at him _hopefully_.

“...What is this?” he asks, and suddenly notices the large purple scars, raised and some still healing. Deep jagged wounds, some _still_ surrounded by bruises.

Deceit nudges the crowbar again, and points to himself, points to his chest, and makes some sort of desperate whine.

“I...I’m not going to hurt you,” Roman protests.

Deceit’s eyes widen, and then his face scrunches up, clenching his fists and making another loud whine, more frustrated this time.

“I don’t understand!” Roman is ready to cry, “why do you _want_ me to hurt you?”

_Because I’m a good pet! You’re stressed, use me!_

Deceit can’t say any of it, and hangs his head, suddenly bursting into tears, pointing at the crowbar again and then at himself, as desperately as he can.

_I got you hurt, so hurt me, please! I can be a good pet for you, just use me!_

And then Roman’s beside him, arms tight around him, holding him close. Warm, firm, comforting, and he’s crying.

Deceit freezes, not sure of how to react.

“Dee, I don’t want to hurt you,” Roman whispers, and Deceit sobs, “I don’t want you hurt. I want you to be okay, I want you healthy and happy. I want... _you_. Not this...pet self...that you’ve become.”

Deceit can’t help crying harder, his head starting to feel shattered.

_You’re nothing but a pet!_

_Roman says otherwise!_

_He’s lying to you!_

_He wouldn’t-_

_You. Are. A. Pet._

“You’re not a pet,” Roman whispers, as if he can hear the fragmented thoughts, “you’re...you’re just as...human...as the rest of us, I swear.”

Deceit sniffs and points to the crowbar.

“I’m not hurting you.”

_What sort of pet am I if I don’t let you?_

“None of us are going to hurt you.”

_But I need to be a good pet!_

“You’re our friend, and we love you, and we want you to...be _you_ again. You’re not our pet. You aren’t a pet. You deserve better than that.”

Something in Deceit breaks.

He lets himself collapse slightly, sinking deeper into Roman’s arms.

_I deserve better._

_You don’t. You’re a pet._

_But I could be more than a pet._

_No! You’re just a pet! Nothing more! A useless, stupid pet that nobody will use!_

_I could be more than a pet._

He breathes slowly, and Roman gently picks him up, lifting him onto the bed, even as Deceit tenses up.

“I...I love you,” Roman murmurs, lying them both down on the bed and stroking Deceit’s hair, “sleep with me tonight, please? It’s comfier than the pet bed, and I’ll protect you, and you’re safe here...”

Deceit hesitates, and goes to pull away, but Roman is still holding him.

_I don’t deserve to touch you whilst I sleep._

“Cuddle?” Roman offers, “I...I know you’re a little touch starved...let me hold you?”

Deceit hesitates, tensing up and getting ready to pull away.

Then he softens, and slowly nods.

He shuffles up close, and Roman _almost_ blushes at having Deceit shirtless and pressed against him, almost. He sees the way Deceit slowly relaxes, and can’t help but smile.

Deceit falls asleep so quickly, and Roman wonders whether that’s to do with the abuse.

It doesn’t matter right now though. Deceit is sleeping, Deceit looks peaceful, and Roman finally gets to give him the affection he deserves.

Roman drifts off asleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a nice person who quickly offers...angsty fluff...


	25. For The Sake Of Everyone But Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit decides Roman is probably his "main" master, and freaks out when his arm is touched,

Roman checked Virgil was still in his room before locking it again, unsure as to how Deceit managed to unlock it.

Deceit looks almost sad watching him, but still follows Roman around. When Roman asks him if he’s okay, Deceit points to his collar and then to Roman, grinning. And Roman isn’t fully sure of how to take that.

When Roman gets Remus to keep watch on Deceit, Deceit gets moody and sulky, and keeps finding objects that could hurt him, nudging them over and looking hopeful.

When Roman gets Patton to keep watch on Deceit, Deceit kneels and puts his arms up until Patton desperately tells him to stop. At which point Deceit looks confused, and Patton starts crying.

After that, they decided that Patton wasn’t the best person to look after Deceit when alone.

Thomas tries to...”babysit” Deceit. He watches as the side shuffles up against him, nuzzling and curling up by his feet.

“...You can come up on the sofa with me,” Thomas offers, and Deceit shakes his head.

He preferred being on the floor, where he belonged-

_We are more than a pet._

_We’re not, now shut up._

Thomas felt safe to him. He could handle Thomas. He enjoyed shuffling up close to him, relaxing and letting himself be a good pet that wasn’t expected to do anything.

“...Roman mentioned you had some bad bruises.”

Or not.

Deceit eyes Thomas warily.

“Uh, on your torso, I mean...something about a crowbar?”

_Oh, so he does want to hurt me. Typical._

Deceit sighs and removes his top, about to crawl off and get it, only for Thomas to grab him by an uninjured arm, telling him to wait.

It’s too much.

He screams, and screams again.

He doesn’t stop screaming until he passes out.

“I was just trying to explain!” Thomas is still tearful, having recounted what happened.

“It’s okay,” Patton tells him softly, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close.

Deceit was awake again, sniffing and curling up in his pet bed, not wanting to pay attention to the others. Except maybe Roman. He had mentally decided that Roman would be his main master. Because Roman was nice and gentle and didn’t treat him badly. Roman let him sleep in the bed.

_Roman knows we aren’t a pet. Roman let us know-_

_Stop! Stop that, we **are** a pet!_

Deceit whimpers, and Remus is over and stroking his hair gently.

“Relax, Dee,” Remus murmurs, and for a moment Deceit glances at him at the mention of his nickname, “it’s okay. Nobody’s cross. Nobody’s going to hurt you. And that’s coming from me-”

“Must you?” Roman asks with a sigh, and Deceit looks over at him, watching.

_Maybe if nobody’s angry at me they’ll let me have a cookie?_

He waits until Thomas is okay, of course.

Thomas was ultimately the main person they all had to think about, seeing as they were all parts of Thomas. Deceit would do anything to keep Thomas safe. Thomas and the others. Roman and Remus and Patton. Thomas and Roman and Remus and Patton.

Even now, watching them all comfort each other, reassuring each other that everything would be okay, that it was fine. Even now, that he knew they were all _lying_ , to each other and theirselves.

_Maybe I should just fade. I deserve it, for putting them through all of this._

_No. We can’t protect them if we fade._

_True…_

_Everything we do must be for the sake of keeping them safe._

_Even if that means keeping us safe?_

_...Sure._

Fighting yourself was difficult. The part of Deceit that survived the conditioning, that wanted to be normal again, was so small. Tiny and weak and fighting just to survive. It fed on the reassurance from the others, but it was still small.

Compared to the part of him that had given up, accepted the fact that he was a pet, and had no desire to fight it. The part that just _wanted_ to be a pet. Nothing to do but follow orders, obey his master, and be a good pet.

He traces the top of his collar hesitantly, and after making sure ~~his~~ the snake is comfy, goes up to Roman’s bedroom, sneaking in carefully.

He wouldn’t share the bed, not when his master had been so good to him. So kind, so gentle, not even punishing him for his mess up.

But with ~~his~~ the snake in the pet bed, he decided Roman might not mind if he just curled up at the end. He could make himself small, so small.

Since Virgil had forced him into so many cages, so many tiny cramped spaces, he could make himself tiny and still.

So he falls asleep at the end of Roman’s bed, so small that even when Roman rolls over in his sleep, he still doesn’t realise that Deceit is there.


	26. What Virgil Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit starts to feel a little better and Virgil makes an appearance!

Everything was...confusing.

Deceit was being offered more food now that he was gaining weight again. They’d struggled to weigh him, but they were happy that he was physically recovering.

He was healing as well, slowly. Nobody dared mention the amputations, the scars, and the still broken arm. Patton tried “it’s only been two weeks!” but nobody was convinced.

Deceit knew everyone was suffering to some extent, so he put extra effort into being good for them. He gave up on them hurting him, even though he was sure it’d help. They all refused. And yes, he was happy with that. He understood that they were good masters - people - friends - masters. But they liked it when he nuzzled them or let them cuddle him.

They liked him being _this_ sort of good pet. A therapy pet, more than anything. They talked to him, sometimes read books to him, let him play with ~~his~~ their snake. They tried hard to make him feel like he wasn’t a pet.

_Because we’re not._

_But we are._

_They said we're not._

_You believe them?_

_...Yes?_

Roman often let him sleep on his bed, occasionally even encouraged Deceit to snuggle up to him.

Deceit liked that a lot. The feel of another person so close to him, the soft reassurance from his master, who was so gentle, and treated him like...like...a human.

Some part of Deceit craved being treated like a human. Some days that part of him was stronger, and he once attempted to sit on the sofa normally.

But his knees hurt so much, and he felt like there were knives in his back.

So he gave up, and Remus found him curled up crying, because he couldn’t physically try to be human in even the most basic ways.

_Because we’re not. We’re a pet._

_That’s not true!_

_Virgil said it was._

Deceit crawls into Virgil’s room, feeling some vague, awful fear of comfort. This was something he knew, felt consistent. Everything had been consistent when he was here. And now everything was...chaotic, confusing. He was expected to think and be human, and his head felt so foggy, so dizzy…

“You!”

He looks over at Virgil, who points at him shakily. His hair is a mess, his clothes are baggy on him, and torn. Deceit can see blood under Virgil’s fingernails even from a distance, and the bags below his eyes are enough to make his eyes look sunken.

“Get over here, p-pet!”

Deceit does so obediently. Virgil still _felt_ like one of his masters. His least favourite, though.

Virgil grips the back of his head and pulls him up on his weakened knees.

“You’re worthless,” Virgil snaps, and there’s no real anger in his voice, just something sad and...pathetic. “You’re worthless and disgusting and they’re all going to get tired of you! Do you understand that, _pet?”_

Deceit blinks slowly, sighs, and nods.

_He’s lying._

_He’s telling the truth._

_He’s lying!_

_He’s telling the truth!_

_Stop lying to yourself, **he's** **lying!**_

Virgil suddenly starts crying, pulling Deceit close and hugging him tightly, painfully, hands gripping tighter in his hair.

“You’re worthless,” Virgil murmurs softly, “you’re worthless and I hate you and I want to whip you until your vocal chords rip from screaming...”

Deceit tenses up, and then he hears Remus in the doorway, yelling at Virgil to let go of him, and then he’s being urged out whilst Virgil screams and sobs.

“Virgil’s resetting.”

Deceit wasn’t listening, letting Thomas stroke his hair, occasionally sighing happy. But Thomas was very much listening.

“It’s not a fun process,” Patton explains simply, “it’s...gosh, it’s like...like...”

“It’s like being completely stripped down of everything,” Roman says bluntly, “and being rebuilt from scratch. Usually a reset is done forcibly...but other times it occurs naturally.”

“We reset!” Remus pipes up, “Roman and I – when we were one! We ripped ourselves in half and at first, we had no real mind, just this urge to _create_ , no matter the content….and then there was the pain-”

“Stop!” Roman yells at Remus, and everyone pauses, and Deceit whimpers. “...Sorry. I just...don’t want to relive that.”

“So...will he be...different?” Thomas asks, and Roman shrugs, not answering.

“...We don’t know,” admits Patton, “a natural reset is different from a forced one. It’s down to Virgil what happens.”

Deceit returns to Virgil that night, simply sitting and watching his...master, former master...something...cry.

Virgil looks over at him and urges him over, shaking and pulling him up on the bed by his plastered arm. It makes Deceit wince, every muscle in his body freezing.

“Stay with me,” Virgil murmurs, “stay with me, let me hurt you – no, let me – no...”

Virgil clutches his head, and Deceit hesitantly nuzzles him.  Virgil blinks, and then wraps his arms around Deceit tightly. Deceit swears he feels something click, but he doesn’t dare move  or make a noise.  Virgil wraps himself around Deceit in some sort of hug, and Deceit realises they’re cuddling. In some odd way.

“I miss Lo,” Virgil murmurs, and there’s tears on Deceit’s shoulder, “ I miss Lo...I don’t wanna cuddle a pet, I want Lo...”

D eceit feels his fingers dig in, but the lack of fingernails prevents any real pain.

“ You’re worthless,” Virgil says, once again. “ But you’re my pet, and I  want to cuddle you and hurt you...”

D eceit starts to regret coming back. He regrets wanting to check on his former master. He regrets feeling pity and sadness for his former master. He regrets everything, and starts to try worm away.

“ We’re cuddling now...” Virgil murmurs, “...I want to cuddle and hurt you, my little pet...”

V irgil’s eyes are hazy.

“Wait no – wait, yes...” Virgil  groans, “ pet, let me hurt you...”

Deceit shakes his head, surprising himself, and tries harder to pull away. But with his weakened body it was still hard.

“ Yes, let’s cuddle and I’ll hurt you...”

D eceit lets out a blood-curdling scream  as Virgil suddenly  simultaneously  crushes a poking out rib and  bites deep into his throat, ripping out layers of flesh and muscle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify, Deceit visits Virgil because he's confused between the conditioning and the way the others are trying to decondition him. Conditioning does change the way you genuinely feel and think (trust me) so it's sort of...making him feel a lot of confusing and mixed feelings.  
> Virgil is not meant to be mentally ill, btw. He's just going through a reset, and that makes him...erratic.  
> Finally, I SWEAR next chapter (which will be uploaded after I take a short break from this) will be a lot less angsty and a lot more of Deceit recovering!!


	27. Alas Only Deceit Knows Morse Code

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit is a little injured!

Everyone hears the scream. Everyone rushes there. Everyone sees Deceit jerking slightly on the bed whilst Virgil bites large chunks from his exposed skin. Everyone sees Deceit’s shock, the way he goes limp, the way he doesn’t move, the way he just stares up at the ceiling. Everyone sees Virgil crying, hissing apologies between each deep bite.

Remus is the one to pull Virgil off, harsh and not caring that Virgil screams and cries.

Roman is the one to pick up Deceit, holding him close.

Patton is the one to run and get medical supplies whilst they bring Deceit out and lock the room – this time, Remus keeps the key on him, wondering where Deceit got it from.

Deceit is pale and clammy, shaking, his muscles weak, pupils enlarged and his vision blurry.

“ Shock,” Roman murmurs, and  they wrap a shock blanket around Deceit as they start trying to patch him up.

“ I don’t think Virgil hit anything major,” Patton mumbles, shaking as Remus takes over, “thankfully...”

It’s a small comfort, considering the large gaps across Deceit’s shoulders and collar bone...and the one on his throat.

“What about his throat?” Roman asks softly.

Remus inspects it carefully.

“I mean, it’s pretty damaged...but he should make a full recovery. The windpipes, vocal chords and such are all fine...” Remus smiles weakly, “typically I’d say I was impressed, but...”

Deceit slowly starts to breathe normally, no longer shallow and weak.  He starts to register the way his masters were all so caring, the way they  checked on him…

Roman’s hand against his cheek, whispering that he’ll be okay.  Patton using his name to Remus - “is Deceit fully bandaged?” Remus  so carefully placing bandages around everywhere that hurts, offering painkillers...

_ M aybe I’m not a pet… _

_Let’s think about this later…_

_Yes...lets just sleep for now…_

When Deceit wakes up, all he registers is pain. He’s aware that everything hurts, and that he feels like shit. His throat is too sore to even try and speak. He’s also surrounded by pillows and blankets and his masters – friends – fuck.

He weakly taps the ground, trying to get someone to wake up. They cared about their pet. They’d look after their pet. He taps four times before Patton wakes up, yawning and looking over at Deceit, who blinks slowly at him.

“You’re awake...” Patton shuffles over and gently checks the bandages. “You’re pretty badly hurt, so try not to move...”

Deceit sniffs, trying and failing to make a whining sound.

“You’ll recover,” Patton assures him, “Thomas says he doesn’t think there’s permanent damage to your throat, it’s just the pain and the fact that it’s not at a healing stage yet that’s keeping you silent...”

_I’m meant to be silent. This is probably a blessing to you all._

“You know, we miss you speaking.”

Patton’s voice is so soft as he changes Deceit’s bandages. He barely hears him. But he glances over, too tired and weak and in pain to look at him properly.

He taps the floor again and Patton looks up. Another tap.

“...Sorry. It’s just...” Patton hesitates. “You’re so quiet, and...we understand why. But we want you to be you again, voice included.”

Deceit hesitates, then slowly starts to tap. He feels so weak, but he keeps tapping, hoping that Patton would understand. Long tap, pause, four small taps…

He finishes the message but Patton just tilts his head in confusion.

“Do you need something?” Patton asks. “Food? Another blanket? Oh! Painkillers! I forgot painkillers!”

Patton runs off, and Deceit breathes deeply, trying not to cry.

He wanted to talk.

He wanted to be understood.

He wanted...more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? He's okay! :D


	28. Pasta, Hugs and Wheelchairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit starts to feel better :)

His masters – friends? No, masters – were quick to tell him that he had to avoid Virgil and Logan. He didn’t mind this. He likes his new masters better, after all. He doesn’t want to be hurt again. Even if he deserves it, even if he _should_ be hurt.

He opts to instead spend his time trying to get cuddles and whatever affection they’d give him. When they changed his bandages he always ended up getting hugs if he stayed still, so he made sure to do so, for example.

When Roman changes the bandages and _doesn’t_ offer a hug, Deceit sulks. If he wasn’t going to be punished for sulking, then he was going to. He makes a show of pouting and turning away, huffing as loud as he dares and folding his arms.

“What? Did I do something?”

Deceit huffs.

“Come on, talk, or...write it down...”

Deceit frowns, then turns and tries to mime a hug.

“...You want a hug?”

He nods quickly. If his masters – friends – something – were going to start offering hugs when he behaved, then he expected _hugs when he behaved_.

He jumps when Roman sweeps him up close in a tight, warm hug.

“You can have hugs whenever you want,” Roman tells him, and Deceit almost smiles.

Deceit refuses the wheelchair.

He refuses the crutches.

He hesitantly takes the walking stick offered, black with a yellow snake carved into it.

Sure, he doesn’t use it, but he keeps it close by, a reminder that  his masters expected him to walk sometime.

H e prefers to crawl, he thinks.  He tells himself that he prefers to crawl a lot, even though he thinks he’s lying to himself.  He likes to crawl, likes being treated like a pet.  Especially with such kind...masters? No, friends! Friends!

H e occasionally acknowledges them when they call his actual name, but for the most part he prefers “pet”. So he tells himself.

A  couple weeks after the Virgil incident, they give him  a few spoonfuls of pasta with his dinner.

“ Eat it,” Patton insists.

It doesn’t look gross. There’s no bugs or maggots or vomit in it.

“ Please?” Patton hesitates, “please...pet...I want you to try it.”

S o Deceit does,  and immediately whines and nudges Patton to try and get more.  At first, Patton doesn’t understand, which is  _ frustrating _ . So he paws at Roman, and lies across Remus’ lap, whining and pointing to his stomach.

(He’s secretly rather happy that they sit on the floor to eat – it means he can lie across them, which...is nice…)

“ I think he wants more food,” Remus says, “see if he’ll eat more pasta?”

Deceit swears the pasta is the best thing he’s ever eaten,  and finds himself hugging Patton tightly, nuzzling him and making soft noises until his throat injury forces him to stop.

The injuries were causing a lot of pain.  He didn’t like it.

He didn’t like a lot of things.

But he liked the pasta.

With coaxing and offers of hugs, he agrees to try and use the walking stick.

He does try. He falls, hitting the floor painfully, yelling out and sobbing as the pain reminds him of everything Logan and Virgil did to him.

Patton is quick to give him hugs, holding him close as Remus and Roman bring the wheelchair over.

“Try this for now instead,” Roman suggests.

Deceit narrows his eyes and hisses at the chair, debating how much he can kick up a fuss before they decide to punish him after all.

“Please? It’ll be better for you,” Patton insists.

Deceit scowls. If he wasn’t going to be punished for misbehaving, then he had no reason to do what they said!

“Come on, it’ll get you off the floor!” Remus complains, “you’re going to ruin your clothes if you keep crawling around!”

Deceit scowls again, and struggles a little as the twins lift him up onto the seat. He hisses and tries to wriggle, only to pause.

Annoyingly, the seat was comfy. And his knees were well supported. And…

“Well?”

...He could handle this. Maybe.

(He still makes a show of huffing and sulking though.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^.^


	29. Thanks and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Deceit says a word, and Patton checks on Virgil.

Roman felt he could sum up Deceit’s current mood as “clingy”.

If you sat down for longer than a few moments, you could guarantee that he’d come and climb onto your lap, to the point that they’d had to discuss “handing him over” to someone else when needed. They’d expected Deceit to protest, but the side seemed fine about it. It seemed Deceit just wanted to be close to people.

He had started sleeping in his pet bed again, but if you got to him before he fell asleep you could convince him to come join you. If he was already asleep then his snake would curl up on top and hiss protectively at anyone who came by.

Deceit had also got it into his head that he’d get hugs if he did what he was told, and trying to break the cycle of “rewards and punishments” was proving difficult.

“I’m not rewarding you,” Remus would protest, and they could all _see_ the way Deceit’s hopes fell, the way he’d cave into the expected punishment.

They tried talking about it, but it wasn’t working very well. He saw them too much as being his “owners”, and everything was distorted.

And that was why they were getting Thomas to talk to him instead. Which was difficult, because Deceit had always been good at ignoring people if he didn’t want to listen. Thankfully, Thomas is able to corner him, in as non-threatening a way as possible in order to talk to him.

“They aren’t _rewarding_ you,” Thomas tries to explain, “they’re just...being affectionate. Treating you like a human.”

Deceit frowns and shuffles in his chair. He didn’t _like_ being treated like a human, not really. Or maybe he did. Everything was confusing. But he knew how to be a pet…

He sighs, unable to express this to Thomas. He hesitantly goes to wheel away, only for Thomas to reach out, gently placing a hand on his.

“Please. Deceit, they...none of us want you to be a pet. We want you to be... _you_...”

There’s silence, and then finally Deceit sighs, and offers a weak smile at Thomas, shaking and trembling and twitching before finally whispering - “thank you.”

Patton meanwhile is left to check in on Virgil and Logan. Logan was still unconscious, whilst Virgil was simply...quiet.

“Hey, Virgil...so, Logan should be awake soon...” Patton keeps his voice as light and cheery as he can, hoping that the softness keeps Virgil calm.

The side glances at him, as Patton places a plate of food down on the bed for him, but says nothing. Virgil is thin, with hollow cheeks and empty eyes. And as much as Patton knows Virgil did something _wrong_ , something _bad_ , he can’t help but feel bad for him.

“I’ll let you know when Logan wakes up,” he offers, a gentle reassurance, “don’t worry, Virge...you and Lo can make things right again, I know you can.”

(After he leaves the room, Virgil takes one long look at the plate of food, and then throws it at the locked door, screaming and collapsing into tears.)


	30. Awake and Alive Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which recovery statuses are discussed!

“So, getting real food by choice?” Roman asks, seeing Deceit reaching up into one of the cupboards.

Deceit pauses, then seems to blush slightly, embarrassed at having been caught, and looks as if ready to protest.

“It’s chill – I mean, I was going to get some food too,” Roman admits, walking over, “so if you stole the last of the cookies, you need to share them.”

He sees a look of horror and fear pass over Deceit’s face, and quickly steps back.

“No, I’m sorry, Dee – I wasn’t trying to – you can eat what you want, I was just being silly.”

Deceit hesitates slightly, but to Roman’s surprise quietly replies with “it’s okay.”

So Deceit was talking. Just a little bit. Patton had taken a closer look at Deceit, and determined that to the best of his (admittedly limited) knowledge, Deceit’s speech problems were due to _only_ psychological reasons.

To which Deceit had rolled his eyes and wheeled off. So perhaps he was improving, because it wasn’t that long ago that he wouldn’t have dared do so to them. And they couldn’t be unhappy with him over that. In fact, Remus had to admit that it was rather nice to see Deceit acting more like himself. Even if that self had a tendency towards rolling his eyes at people.

“Well, I’m glad he’s improving,” Thomas says with a smile, “he’s getting better by the day...which, uh, leads to my next question. How are Virgil and Logan doing?”

The twins look at Patton, who sighs and shrugs slightly.

“Logan’s not awake yet. And Virgil...is quiet. No signs of aggression, which is good, but...he’s still not... _himsefl_. You know, the good ol’ anxiety we used to know...or, thought we knew...or...gosh words are confusing!”

“No, we get what you mean, don’t worry,” Roman hugs him gently.

“By the way...what happened to those weird...things that those two were hiding?” Remus pipes up suddenly, “think it’d be safe for me to go see them? I bet they look even cooler after what they did to Virgil!”

Roman smacks him on the arm, hissing at him to stop and think about what he’s saying. Remus just laughs, however, unconcerned about it.

Elsewhere in the mindscape, Logan wakes up and screams.


	31. Lost In Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan is confused and Deceit is improving.

Logan stares at the room around him, confused and disorientated and somehow...regretful. Remorseful. Which was ridiculous, because he was _logic_. Why would _logic_ have any reason to feel that way?

He looks around helplessly, shivering slightly before carefully standing up. He needed to get out of this room. He needed to find...someone...he wished his head wasn’t so foggy. That way he could _think_. Remember. He was logic, he should be able to think…

“So,” Roman begins, “these bars, from what I’ve looked up, should be good to help you get walking again. And if walking turns out to be something you can’t do, then at least we’re making your muscles stronger, you know?”

Deceit nods slightly, internally a lot more pessimistic about the situation than Roman. But he wasn’t going to argue. And if he was _completely_ honest with himself (ha!) then he wasn’t opposed to having Roman help him out a little.

“...gotta...hold?” he asks weakly, then clears his throat and tries again, “...gotta hold the bars…?”

It’s not hard to notice the way Roman beams, and it makes the burn in his throat worth it a little more. It felt good to finally be talking again, after all. He had things to say, things to do…

Every day was a fight, of course. Telling himself he wasn’t a pet. But sometimes, like now, he could fight that urge.

“Yeah – if you grab the bars and lift yourself-”

Logan finds Patton first of all, and Patton stares at him with wide eyes and a pale face. Logan doesn’t understand. Or maybe he does. His head hurts when he tries to remember or think.

“You’re...awake? How do you...feel?”

It’s such a simple question, but Logan can’t answer it. He just stares back at Patton, confused and struggling, his head burning and throbbing as he tries to navigate the strange mix of emotions bubbling up inside him.

“I don’t know,” he says finally, honestly.

Patton hesitates, then seems to think before nodding.

“...maybe you need to rest.”

And so Patton guides him into his room, quietly tells him to sleep, and promises to tell him everything later.

“Can you guys get therapy somehow?” Thomas asks one day, after filming some video segments, “I mean...I know getting a _real_ therapist would be tricky, but still...”

Patton and Roman glance at each other, whilst Remus tries (unsuccessfully) to get Deceit’s snake to eat a live mouse.

(“Trained...dead food...only...”)

(“Spoil sport-”)

“...We used to have one of your characters in the Imagination,” Roman admits, “Dr Picani, from Cartoon Therapy?”

Thomas blinks in surprise. “He was...in my head?”

Patton just chuckles slightly. “Every character you create is in your head somewhere. But Dr Picani vanished a few years ago...looking back, Logan and Virgil probably had something to do with that...”

Thomas sighs slightly. “I see...I can’t believe they were doing all of that...and for so long...”

There’s a heavy silence following that, before Remus suddenly screams as Deceit’s snake bites his finger.


	32. Is It Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! In which Logan apologises and Deceit makes improvements.  
> TW: Mentions of past torture, uh, Remus is unintentionally ableist at one point...yeah, think that’s it!

Roman was a bit surprised to see Deceit curled up amongst blankets watching tv at five in the morning. It wasn’t exactly _abnormal_ , at least in this household, but the side looked so content that he could almost forget that this was the same side that’d been tortured for months.

Almost.

“So...what you watching?” he asks, walking over and making Deceit jump slightly.

Deceit frowns slightly, hesitating before pointing to the tv as if to say “take a look yourself”. Which, based on Roman’s knowledge of Deceit was highly probable. But then, to his surprise, Deceit softly speaks.

“The Jungle Book.”

Roman looks at the screen again and perks up at the familiar Disney film.

“You never told me you like Disney!! Move over, I’m watching this too – why The Jungle Book?”

Deceit scowls for a moment, then chuckles slightly, smiling as he rearranges himself.

“Big snake.”

“Ah that explains it.”

Logan isn’t sure how to take the news that he tried to take over the mindscape, and that he encouraged and helped Virgil to torture Deceit. Or that he’d apparently done something similar with the many fragments in Thomas’ mind before.

“That doesn’t sound like something I’d do,” he protests to Patton, “it’s just not _logical_.”

Patton just shrugs though, undeterred by what he thinks is a perfectly good explanation as to why this can’t be real.

“You were pretty convinced. Maybe even logic can be faulty.”

“...Get out.”

“You look like a penguin. Waddle waddle!”

Deceit hisses, before wincing slightly, as if the fear of punishment had caught up with his action. Roman just groans, turning to his brother.

“If you’re going to be unhelpful, please go away. Dee doesn’t need to be insulted.”

Remus himself looks insulted at this, arguing that being compared to a penguin was a _good_ thing. That penguins were excellent and elegant creatures that simply walked funny. But even he could see Deceit looked close to tears, and finds himself backing off quickly.

Once Remus leaves, Deceit glances at Roman, as if waiting for him to say or do something. And he probably should, just to make sure Deceit is okay.

“Sorry about him. He’s not a jerk, he’s just stupid,” he tells him bluntly, helping Deceit drop back into his wheelchair. “But uh, you already know that...”

Deceit breathes deeply, and just as Roman begins to think he’s going to panic, smiles.

“...you too. ...Easter.”

Roman frowns, and then gasps with mock offence.

“It was _not_ my fault that the eggs were real!”

“You summoned...them!”

Roman groans, because of _course_ Deceit would remember the details of the Easter Egg Incident.

“Well, next Easter _you_ can bring the eggs,” he says lightly, gently nudging Deceit with his elbow.

“...next Easter...”

Roman nods, and continues talking, whilst Deceit smiles slightly, warmth building up inside.

Right. Next Easter.

Remus hums, walking down the long corridors of Thomas’ mind. He hadn’t meant to upset Deceit, it was just bad luck that the most impulsive side was there. (Him. Him was the – wait, no, it’s he, right? Logan would be mad…)

Remus pauses in his tracks. Right...Logan. The Logan he knew _would_ be cross about his lack of correct grammar. But he didn’t know Logan as well as he liked, clearly. He sighs slightly. It was going to take a long time to recover from that. For all of them.

He changes direction, remembering what Patton had said about Logan being awake. Awake? Alert? Whatever the correct term was after someone had been reset. Maybe he could visit, see if the reset had worked.

If it had, Remus had to admit it brought up the concern of...what was going to happen? They couldn’t just forgive and forget. And Deceit deserved a say in what happened next. The reset solved one problem, but what were they meant to do next?

Remus finally approaches Logan’s door, and considers all the things he’d rather do than check on the side who hurt his best friend. Breaking his own legs. Removing his tongue. Getting his tongue removed by Patton...nah, that was just unrealistic, even by his standards.

Sticking a spoon into his eye – didn’t Deceit once say there was a scientist who did that? ...well that was probably a lie. A shame, really.

He opens the door, not bothering to knock, and immediately ducks as a book is thrown at him.

“Oh...it’s you, Remus. Sorry, I thought you were Patton.”

“...Patton deserves a book thrown at him?” Remus questions, tilting his head in confusion as he sits down on Logan’s bed, “your bed is _really_ uncomfy, Specs.”

“…it’s memory foam.” Logan says it as if the words mean anything to Remus, or as if it changes anything. “Patton was telling me nonsense. Even for him, it was nonsense.”

“Did he tell you that tomato sauce was sold in the 1800s as medicine? Because that’s true! And it’s why you lot need to stop mocking my deodorant eating habits. One day it’ll be commonplace food.”

To his credit, Logan waits for Remus to finish talking before continuing.

“ _No_. And your habit is bad for your digestive system. No, Patton claims I helped Virgil torture Deceit with the aim of taking over the mindscape.”

Right. Amnesia. The main goal of resetting. But he remembered names, so his memory couldn’t have been reset too far back…

Remus just had to break the news gently.

“It’s true! Snake’s currently in a wheelchair because of you two!”

Fuck.

Logan stares at him for a moment, and then shakes his head.

“...That’s not true.”

“Of course it is!” Remus blurts out, and then curses under his breath. Whenever he knew he should pause and think about his words was _exactly_ when he started just _saying_ things.

“I wouldn’t-”

“Well, you did.” Fuck, who knew, maybe this would turn out to be a good thing. “You tortured him, helped Virgil hurt him, and hey my brother got hurt too, _and_ we think you and Virgil are responsible for the disappearance of the others!”

He sees Logan wince, sees the man shrink back.

“I wouldn’t – Virgil wouldn’t-”

“Well you _did_.”

There’s silence, and Remus swears he can hear the gears turning in Logan’s head.

“...Please leave me alone.”

Remus wants to yell at him that he shouldn’t get to dictate what others do after what he did. But he doesn’t, instead reluctantly leaves, slamming the door behind him.

Leaving Logan alone.

Deceit enjoys stretching out with his snake curled up on his stomach. It feels comfortable, and reassuring. Better than Patton’s weighted blanket, at least. Possibly because a blanket didn’t have a heart beat that pulsed just enough for Deceit to be able to feel it.

He watches Roman leave to help Patton make tea, and closes his eyes to listen to the sound of Remus running about somewhere in the mindscape, followed by a crash and the sound of laughter.

He couldn’t deny how on edge the noise made him feel, how much he tensed up, but he also couldn’t deny how happy he felt to be around his friends, who so clearly _cared_. Even Thomas, who made sure to visit earlier that day and check on him. Who promised to listen to him a little more next time.

It made him feel like he had a chance.

“Deceit?”

The voice of logic makes him feel otherwise.

“Deceit.”

He can’t move, both from the snake and the panic, instead opening his eyes and staring shakily ahead at Logan. Logan, pale and thin and potentially unstable. A different Logan than the one who hurt him, but Logan nonetheless.

“Deceit, I...”

His mind screams at him to make a sound. Call for help.

“...I’m sorry.”

Everything grinds to a halt.

“I’m sorry. I...I can tell I messed up. I don’t _understand_ why I would do all of this. Clearly my logic was...temporarily flawed...and I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”

And then Logan is gone, and Deceit can breathe again.

Logan apologised.

Why would he do that?

_He’s tricking you! He wants you to be a pet again!_

_Again? We never stopped._

_Liar!_

“Dee?” Roman looks back in the room, “you okay? Thought I heard something.”

Deceit’s snake hisses as the side breathes deeply.

And then he smiles slightly.

“...okay. I’m...okay...”

_That feels true._

Remus hears the voices late that night.

He had heard them before – so had Roman, although his brother would never admit it. The voices of the fragments that they, as the creativitwins had helped create. The voices had stopped after their apparent demise, but tonight he could hear them.

“ _Put your leg back on.”_

“ _Breathe. Logic is gone.”_

“ _It’s okay now.”_

Remus hesitates, but he had already faced Logan today, a bunch of half dead fragments couldn’t be that bad…

...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not giving up on these three stories, just slow XD But two are coming up to the ends, and HLL is like...half way there I think? so...


	33. Maybe We'll Turn It Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan and Virgil reunite, and start to work through their feelings of shame and guilt. Getting better isn't easy for anyone.

Logan knows that he wasn’t meant to talk to Virgil. That the two had done horrific things and _technically_ weren’t meant to leave their rooms. But really, considering what he’d apparently already done, was breaking that rule such a big deal? Besides, he and Virgil needed to talk at _some_ point, right? Surely it was better sooner than later?

He waits for a while, lying on his bed until he’s certain that it’s late enough to be able to sneak out without being seen and in trouble. Although he had to wonder how long he was going to be on house arrest.

Nevertheless, once he is sure, he gets up, not bothering to put on shoes. Or, to be accurate, and he did like to be accurate, he chose not to put them on. Shoes made too much noise, clacking on surfaces like wood and tile. He needed to be quiet.

He heads down the corridor, unable to relax and not keep his guard up. He wasn’t sure the others would be okay with him being out of his room.

He pauses before passing the main common room, hearing the sound of the television still on. Soft, but definitely some sort of Disney film, based on the semi-familiar singing. He gingerly peers in around the door, as quietly as he can manage.

He spots the wheelchair folded up against the sofa first, then Deceit, curled up and sound asleep. And then next to him, Roman, whose eyes are just open enough to be visibly awake, but clearly sleepy enough to not be paying much attention to his surroundings.

Logan has to admit to being unsure when the two got close. Was it whilst he was being reset? Had they been close before? Maybe he’d been too caught up in his plans to notice. Either way, it wasn’t like he’d ever know himself.

He moves on, and makes his way to Virgil’s room, where he gently knocks on the door before opening it slowly and whispering for him.

“It’s me, Lo-”

“L-Logan? Logan!”

Logan barely has time to process his boyfriend’s shaky voice before he’s being hugged tight, held close to his lover’s chest.

“Logan, you’re – alive-”

Logan frowns, remembering to hug him back before answering. “Why wouldn’t I be alive? I was...reset...not killed.”

“I was just – scared – okay?” Virgil breathes deeply. “They might have decided to kill you instead of just resetting you. Or you could have been hurt badly, and never recovered. Or-”

“Virgil, these are all cognitive distortions. Remember? Now, breathe slowly...”

Virgil nods slightly, slowly breathing in, holding for four, and then breathing out. Logan feels a rush of pride, and counts aloud for him until he stops shaking and appears to relax.

“...It’s really you?”

“It’s really me.”

Virgil hugs him again, and Logan presses a kiss to his forehead. He wished he hadn’t involved Virgil with his plans. Why had he? ...Had he been the one to involve Virgil, or had Virgil involved him?

He had so many questions that he couldn’t answer. And for the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answers.

“How have you been?” Logan asks, before he can spiral.

“...Not good,” Virgil admits slowly, “...I feel bad. Ashamed, I guess...”

Logan can understand that, and gently squeezes his boyfriend in solidarity.

“It’s going to be okay.” _I hope._ “...I apologised to Deceit, you know.”

Virgil seems to perk up a little. “You did? How did he take it?”

There’s excitement in his voice. Not much, but a little. Enough for Logan to feel some sense of relief. He hadn’t lost Virgil.

“...I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

They don’t speak after that. They just hold each other close, as if it could be enough to make things better.

Logan visits Virgil again the next night. He’d tried talking to Deceit that day, but despite his recent apology the man had ignored him, and then spent a good hour or so hiding behind Patton. Logan hated it. Deceit shouldn’t be hiding. Deceit shouldn’t be scared.

“ _Why won’t you at least get angry with me?” Logan had demanded finally. “Yell at me, hit me, whatever! Just – anything but this silence!”_

_And Deceit had hesitated, not saying anything at first, just looking down at the ground as if in shame. Or maybe that was Logan’s imagination. He’d never been good with understanding feelings, and Deceit had never been good with showing them._

“ _...Not angry,” was the only thing Deceit had ended up saying._

“...I don’t know if my apology meant anything,” Logan confesses to Virgil, “if...it’s true, what they say we did. And I can only deduce that it is, seeing as Remus said so as well...then we hurt Deceit badly. And I’m not sure we can ever make up for that.”

Virgil seems to frown for a moment, shuffling away from Logan slightly. Logan knows Virgil well, is able to understand and predict his emotions, but when he looks into his eyes this time, he can’t tell how the man is feeling.

“Virgil, I...”

“You’re giving up? Logan, we...why would you...”

Virgil seems to struggle to find the words, visibly hesitating and fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie. Logan spots him chewing his lip, and gently places a hand to Virgil’s cheek, reassuring him that he can take his time.

“Logan, I don’t want us to be just our fuck ups. So we did something shit. I don’t want to be sentenced to living in my room forever, only able to see you late at night.”

“That’s not-”

Virgil starts to shake, clenching his fists tightly.

“You can give up and assume apologising means nothing if you want, but don’t think for a moment that I’m going to do the same thing.”

Logan doesn’t have a response for that.

“Virgil’s making breakfast.”

Of all the things to hear first thing in the morning, Logan definitely wasn’t expecting that. He sits up, seeing Roman standing in the doorway.

“He...is allowed to do that?”

Roman shrugs, inspecting his nails in a way that Logan thinks means “I’m pissed but don’t want to lose my temper, so I’m pretending not to be”.

“I don’t want him to be anywhere near Deceit. But we had a vote. Deceit voted yes. So Patton took his side, and, well...you know what happens when Patton picks a side.”

Logan did. He’d been on both sides of votes where Patton had chosen a side and won by default. The man had his good points – selfless, loyal, strangely intelligent considering how stupid he acted...but Logan had always wondered who else saw that Patton could convince Elsa to buy ice.

...what was wrong with him, using Frozen as an example?

“Can I...”

“Yeah. And tell him to thank Deceit for letting him be out his room.”

Well, Logan wasn’t going to do that, but he’d thank Deceit himself. He rushes past Roman, eager to go and see his boyfriend during the day for a change. And maybe Virgil would make him some breakfast. For all the anxious side’s bad eating habits, he made amazing eggs.

“Virgil?” he asks, as soon as he enters the kitchen.

The four people in the room turn to look at him, one significantly more worried looking than the rest. He flinches at Deceit’s too-obvious anxious expression, but smiles widely at Virgil, who smiles back slightly.

“Hey Lo. Um, want an egg? I’ve got some bacon too, but I’m not sure I have enough for everyone. Deceit needs a bit extra-”

“D-Don’t...”

“You do,” Patton chips in, “you need as much protein as possible to get your strength back up!”

Virgil and Logan exchange glances.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil mumbles, sliding an extra piece of bacon onto a plate and passing it to Deceit.

Deceit winces, but nods slightly. Logan isn’t sure if that’s an acceptance, or just a recognition of the apology. Or worse, politeness out of fear of what might happen if he doesn’t.

“Logan, can you get some extra plates for me?” Virgil asks.

“...Sure.”

Roman comes in as Logan goes to the cupboards, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Roman kiss Deceit’s cheek. He can see Deceit smile. He can hear Remus make reluctant small talk with Virgil.

Maybe he needed to do more than apologise. Maybe he needed to show he was sorry, show that he was changing, by getting involved at a pace Deceit and the others were comfortable.

Maybe Virgil was right, they could be more than their fuck ups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I know it's been a while. In my defense. I started therapy for my C-PTSD, had some flare ups etc...  
> My point is, I'm trying XD Really want to get this finished for you guys, as well as Again and Hush Little Liar! HLL is likely to be done before Again. That fic...well, I'm not in a place right now where I feel I can do Deceit's journey justice without risking my mental health. Trauma therapy is hard work. Worth it, but hard work.
> 
> Anyhow, I'll do my best, and I want you all to know that I appreciate your patience, and know the hiatuses must be annoying for you. I'm lucky to have such awesome readers!


	34. Not So Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Deceit is convinced to try crutches, and Remus has a plan!
> 
> TW: Um...forced entry, grabbing people by the arms...huh not much this time!

“Come on, it’s just crutches!”

Deceit looks warily at Patton. “Just” crutches. They were scary. They were just sticks that he’d have to lean on in order to not fall and hit the floor from a height that felt like a skyscraper. When you were used to being on your knees, and then sat down...standing was terrifying.

“It won’t be too bad,” Roman insists, offering a hand, “and we’re here to help!”

Deceit hesitates, looking at the crutches again before huffing and looking away.

“Would we try to hurt you?” Patton asks, and winces at the same time as Deceit does.

“ _Would I hurt you?”_

Virgil had asked that once. And Deceit now knew the answer to that far too well.

Virgil.

He was around, somewhere. The man was mostly keeping to himself, or sticking by Logan in Logan’s room, but he was still around. He could easily hurt Deceit at any moment. Maybe that was his plan! Stay close by, lull everyone into a false sense of security, and-

“You’ve been spending too much time around – shit, no that’s not – fuck-”

The unfortunate words tumble from Roman’s mouth, and Deceit can’t help but chuckle slightly.

“Maybe,” he whispers, and looks at the crutches. He glares hard at them.

Flimsy bits of plastic. Obnoxious grey, all dull and flat and lifeless. Squidgy handles, like dumplings.

“You’re overthinking this,” Roman tries again, “the wheelchair wasn’t so bad, was it? This will help your leg muscles develop.”

“No point,” mutters Deceit, the words grating against his throat.

There was no point. He didn’t want to try it. His knees hurt, even now. At night he’d lift his pyjama legs and see the knotted quickly fading scars. Even if the scars faded into nothingness, his legs were still damaged. When he stood, leaning against rails, against bathroom walls and Roman’s strong arms, his knees would bend and buckle and ache.

In all the stories Thomas read when he was young, the heroes always got better. Wasn’t Deceit a hero? Wasn’t he one of the good guys? Didn’t he deserve to get better? For the pain to go away, to walk and move freely once again?

“Deceit,” Patton says gently, bringing him out of his spiralling thoughts, “it’s okay, kiddo.”

Deceit breathes deeply before hesitantly nodding.

“Even if you don’t fully recover, we should still do what we can to help you,” Roman adds, “come on – afterwards we can download _Dear Evan Hansen_ illegally?”

Patton gasps in horror, but Deceit can’t help but laugh slightly.

“Deal,” he whispers.

He grips the handles. Smooth, rubbery, firm. He positions the crutches carefully. He slowly leans forwards, using what little muscle strength he has in his legs to push himself up. His knees cramp, almost twisting beneath him as he falls forwards onto the crutches, gripping tighter to stay upright.

His legs shake, he breathes slowly, steadying himself and willing himself not to cry from the pain.

“Are you okay?” Patton asks, concerned as Deceit begins to go pale.

“Maybe we progressed too fast,” Roman murmurs.

Deceit shakes his head slightly, wills himself to take a small step, shuffling forwards on the crutches.

It hurt.

It hurt bad.

He could do this, though. He was _Deceit_. A “dark side”. He was one of _Thomas’_ sides, and he was needed, he was _important_.

He was in pain, but he was going to do this. He had to develop his leg muscles, even if his knees were fucked. Who knew, maybe it’d help with the pain.

They didn’t know, of course, but Deceit could dream. Or lie. Maybe dreaming and lying were the same things.

“...I’m fine,” he murmurs, “...deal?”

Patton groans, and Roman grins.

“Let’s go then-”

“It’s _illegal-”_

Deceit smiles wider at Patton’s objections, and grins throughout the debate, occasionally forcing a few words out to watch Patton get flustered.

His legs hurt, but his heart felt good.

Elsewhere, Remus had a job to do. He wasn’t allowed to be with Deceit during physiotherapy ever since the penguin comment. Which wasn’t fair, penguins were great! What sort of person doesn’t love the way a penguin waddles?

Still, he had a job, and he for once cared about staying on track. Whether his motivations were good or not were up for debate, but he was going to get this job done!

First, however, he needed Logan.

Logan, who was attempting to read, did not appreciate Remus’ intrusion.

“You could have used the door,” Logan points out irritably, looking at the hole in his wall.

Remus, of course, doesn’t care. Why would he? He lived for chaos. If he had his way, doors would be a thing of the past. Why use a door when you just need an opening?

“-An opening! Like-”

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it,” Logan says quickly, “I don’t want to hear it.”

_Like I deserve to be listened to_ , Logan thinks, and jumps as Remus gets closer suddenly.

Remus grins as he grabs Logan by the arm, a bit too tight for Logan’s comfort.

_If I even deserve comfort_ , Logan thinks miserably.

“What do you want, Remus?” he asks with a sigh.

“I need your brain, Nerd! Oh but not literally – well, unless you’re offering-”

“Of course I’m not. ...What do you want?”

“I told ya, your brain!”

And with that, Remus drags Logan off and away.


	35. All Resolved By The End, Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan loses an arm. It's ok though, he gets it back!

Logan stares at the group of fragments. Most of them were almost fully formed, but something at the back of his head told him that they’d been through a lot at the hands of him and Virgil.

“Emile, I can’t find my arm,” one of them complains, loudly, “and where are my sunglasses?”

“Turns out they used Virgil to rebuild themselves!” Remus says it almost proudly, “isn’t that cool? No wonder the guy was so worked up afterwards!”

“...They used him?” Logan echoes, “what do you mean?”

Remus ignores him, instead collecting up limbs as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Logan wanted to press the matter, but something told him that was a bad idea.

“Emile, is this your ear?” Remus asks, holding out a deformed ear to a pink haired man.

_Right, Emile...Emile Picani. He was formed for that Cartoon Therapy Thomas did...and then seems to have forgotten about. I should remind him._

“Thanks!” Emile cheerfully takes the ear and shoves it onto the side of his head.

Logan cringes at how it crooks slightly, tilted too far to the back of the head to look natural. A lot of them were like that, though. A few had limbs that seemed to narrow into a stump instead of finishing off. Or had parts outright missing, or in the wrong locations.

“Still can’t find my fucking arm,” says the first one, picking up a pair of cracked sunglasses and putting them on. He turns to Logan. “Can I borrow yours?”

Logan shrinks back, clutching his arm. He wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, but the fragment looked serious.

“Ah, go on Lo, give Remy an arm. Yours will grow back!”

“I’m not – _giving –_ someone my arm,” Logan snaps.

“Virgil did,” a fragment he doesn’t recognise says casually, “well. I took it, but...you know.”

“I need a hand still,” Emile muses.

“We can do it painlessly!” Remus assures him. As if that helped.

Logan backs away as the fragments grow closer.

“I really am sorry.”

It wasn’t the first apology Virgil had given him. Deceit was starting to get fed up with it. Virgil’s apologies changed nothing.

“I’m sorry-”

Deceit glares hard at him, making Virgil stop suddenly.

“Stop,” is all Deceit manages to say, but Virgil’s look of helplessness is enough for him.

“What can I do to...make it up to you?” Virgil tries instead.

Once again, it wasn’t the first time Virgil had asked. Deceit turns to move away, shuffling carefully with his crutches as he does. Turning was awkward. He was still getting used to the aids, and standing was difficult enough as it was.

It did him good, though. They were hoping to get him onto a walking stick. Even if he couldn’t heal completely, it would be an improvement. And that was good enough, as far as Deceit was concerned.

Right.

Good enough.

“Dee, please...”

Deceit stops, hesitating before turning back to Virgil.

“...Call me by my name,” he whispers, struggling to force the words out, “and... _do_ better...fed up...of words...”

His words. Virgil’s words. Everyone’s words.

He liked what they did.

Their words, he was less keen on.

Anyone could say anything, after all.

Not everyone could _do_ something.

“...I’m sorry, Janus.”

Deceit smiles slightly, listening to the sincerity in Virgil’s voice.

Then he turns, and leaves, carefully making strides with the occasional hop.

Maybe there was hope.

Maybe he could handle Virgil and Logan being around?

Maybe.

Logan was unimpressed by having his limbs borrowed. Sure, it hadn’t hurt – much – but seeing someone shove your arm into their shoulder, missing a couple of times...it was weird, and intense. And that was ignoring the matter of _having your arm removed._

“Cheer up!” Remus tells him, and hugs him tightly, “c’mon, nerd, you helped out a ton!”

“Get off me,” Logan mutters.

“Thanks for the arm,” Remy says, interrupting the pair, “hey, Emile wants to know...where’s Dee?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three chapters left!!

**Author's Note:**

> You can blame the anon who suggested the initial prompt for this-


End file.
